Darkness Approaching
by aks100
Summary: Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Severus Snape all grew up in Hogwarts as the Dark Lord first came to power. Why did htey tun on their friends? Why were they wanted? post DH and may contain spoilers
1. Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer: The Characters and World of Harry Potter is entirely J.K.Rowling's. The first few paragraphs are taken straight out of Deathly Hallows.**

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**Darkness Approaching **

**Chapter 1**

"I'm sorry" begged Severus snape

"I'm not interested," replied the red haired girl in her dressing gown. Lily Evans had her arms folded and looked at her 'friend'. She had tried to defend him and he had just spat it right back into her face

"I'm sorry,"

"Save your breath," Lily said with a slight coldness that usually followed a friend's betrayal, "I only came out here because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here," Though she was slightly pleased that he would do that for her it wouldn't hide the fact that he had called her a…even thinking about the word made her angry.

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just-"

"Slipped out? It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends-you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join you-know-who, can you?" She watched as Severus struggled to reply, "I can't pretend any more. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No-listen, I didn't mean-"

"-To call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?" Lily didn't even wait for him to reply. She just turned around and walked back through the portrait hole into the common room. She looked down at her hand and saw it was shaking, she was so angry. Severus had been one of her best friends and he'd just severed their friendship. Nearly ten years of friendship and he had thrown it away with that filthy word.

"That's what happens when you're friends with Slytherins," said the cocky little toerag, James Potter from a couch. Lily stopped and looked at him and Sirius Black.

"Can't be trusted," Sirius said with a shrug.

"At least I tried," Lily said before she stormed up into the girls' dormitory. Mary McDonald was just getting into bed and Hiba Qazi (Lily's other best friend) was sitting eagerly awaiting news and brushing her long brown hair at the same time. The other girls were asleep in their beds.

"So? How did it go?" Mary asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lily muttered as she shrugged off her dressing gown.

"I told you your friendship with Snape would only end in tears," said Hiba sympathetically.

"Lily, I don't understand what you saw in him anyway. He's not even that good looking," Mary said. Lily climbed into her bed and pulled her covers up around here. Even though it was stifling hot in the summer heat, the covers felt like they protected her from her friend's comments.

"I have to admit I saw it com-"

"Will you two just be quiet!" Lily snapped, "It's bad enough that Severus called me a…and then Potter and Black criticising me. I don't need you two telling me how it's not a good idea to be friends with a Slytherin. I've had it since I started school and now I see the error of my ways. I'm going to bed." With that she threw herself down onto her bed and covered her head with her blanket. She heard Hiba and Mary muttering to each other before the lights all went out and Lily was finally left alone with her thoughts. She tried to hold back the tears as she thought about Severus. They had been friends since they were seven. He had introduced her to the wizarding world and helped her to find her way around Diagon Alley. They had helped each other through their problems in life, school and friends.

Lily had to admit she had seen this coming and had expected Severus to turn against her but part of her had hoped he wouldn't. It meant it hurt even more when he had come out with it earlier by the lake. Part of Lily wanted to ask Potter to just punish him for it. She knew he would if she asked. Potter would do anything for her if it meant getting a date, a kiss or even that precious little smile he desperately wanted.

With a solitary sob Lily went to sleep.

* * *

Lily woke up at lunchtime the next day. She didn't have an exam that day so she had just let herself sleep in. As she got up she saw that Hiba and Mary had the same idea. Lazily she got ready and put on a pair of jeans and a polo shirt. She picked up her bag and made her way down to the Hall to get something to eat before heading to the library.

The hall was almost empty but Lily recognised a few students dotted around. She saw Jenna Crawley sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Potter, Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew sitting at Gryffindor showing off to a bunch of first years, and then Severus at the Slytherin table. She saw Severus glance her way then stand up so Lily made her way as quickly as possible to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Remus.

"Good morning," Remus said with a smile. He offered Lily a plate of sandwiches, "I heard you had a rough night," Lily gave Remus a thankful smile for the sandwiches.

"Are you going to lecture me as well Remus?" Lily asked. Remus blew some hair out of his face then poured Lily a drink.

"No," Remus said, "I expect you're getting it from everyone else so I'll spare you the pain," Lily's smile grew slightly.

"Have I ever said how wonderful you are?" Lily asked

"Frequently but I think I can hear it again," Remus said with a cheeky smirk. Lily gave a small laugh, which caused Potter to laugh suddenly. Lily looked at him with disdain.

"That's funny," Potter said at Remus. Black turned to look at Potter as well and smirked in amusement.

"You alright mate?" he asked. Potter cleared his throat as he realised he'd just made a fool of himself and nodded.

"Yeah," Potter said. Lily rolled her eyes then turned back to Remus.

"Charms soon, do you think you're ready for the exam?" Lily asked.

"I'm pretty confident that I'll pass if I can get these to knuckle heads to leave me alone for a few minutes," Remus said nodding at Potter and Black. Black spread out his hands and made a face.

"What? When do I ever pester you?" Black asked.

"You transfigured my text book into a tarantula," Remus said. Lily detected a hint of amusement in his voice mingled in with his annoyance.

"I'll have you know that your text book is probably living a very happy life now in the corner of the library," Black said.

"You see what I mean," Remus said to Lily.

"Well, I'm off to the library after lunch. Do you want to come and revise with me and the girls for a while?" Lily asked as she inspected a sandwich that looked suspiciously brown.

"Yeah, why not?" Remus said, "I always learn so much from you," Lily blushed slightly.

"I'm not that good," Lily said being modest.

"Are you kidding me? You're like the best student in our year," Peter mumbled to Lily.

"Thanks Peter," Lily said. She glanced at Potter, expecting something to come from him but he just turned and whispered something to Black. She knew it was about her because Lily heard her name.

Lily stood up, "Well, Peter, you can always join in as well, the more the merrier," She said as she picked up her bag.

"Does that mean we can join?" Black asked.

"No," Lily said, "I've had enough of you two this year to last me another four," Black grinned as if it was a compliment.

"Thanks Evans,"

"Any time Black," Lily couldn't help but give him a slight smile then made her way out of the hall. She once out she took a hidden passageway up to the Library so that Severus wouldn't follow her. She went to her usual table by a window that looked over the lake and the quidditch pitch. She saw Hagrid walking around his hut before she sat down and opened up her books.

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"Moony, how do you get her to be so nice to you?" James asked as soon as Lily's back disappeared around the door. Remus shrugged.

"I guess she must like me," Remus said with a slight smile.

"That's not funny," James said with slightly narrowed eyes, "I probably shouldn't have criticised her choice of friends." His eyebrows seemed to form a V shape over his eyes.

"Bit late for that now," Sirius said as he gazed around the hall, "Oh, look who's on the move," James looked in the direction that Sirius was looking. Across the hall Snape had just got up and had a rather determined look on his face.

"I think it's the right time to make Snivellus sorry for what he's done to Evans," James said with a smirk. Sirius returned the exact same smile and Remus rolled his eyes. The four of them stood up and followed Snape from the Great Hall.

"Hey, Snivellus," Sirius shouted as they left the hall. A group of first years stopped to watch. Snape turned around to glance at them then hurried away, "Stop and Listen when someone's talking to you," Sirius said as he got out his wand, "_Petrificus Totalus_," Snape's body seemed to lock and he fell on the floor.

"_Finite Incantatum_, _Levicorpus_," James added with a few careless flicks of his wand.

"What do you want now Potter?" Snape leered.

"I'm not very happy with how you've treated Evans over the last few days," James said as he waved his wand in small circles. Snape watched his wand carefully.

"That's none of your busine-"

"It's completely my business," James said. Behind him Sirius' smirk grew bigger while Remus and Peter kept an eye out for teachers.

"You're just jealous Potter that she preferred a Slytherin over you," Snape jeered.

"Not any more," Sirius chipped in. James turned to look at Sirius then they both looked up to the ceiling. Amongst the many amazing and intricate carvings in the ceiling of the Hogwarts entrance hall was a few small bits of masonry that stuck out like small hooks. James flicked his wand up and Snape flew high into the air. James turned him upside down then hooked his trousers onto the stone. Snape held onto his trousers as tightly as he could so that they wouldn't slip off.

"Don't you go near her again Snivellus," James shouted at him. The group of them made their way up to the library where Remus and Peter broke off and joined Lily, who was currently sitting on her own. She seemed lost in her thoughts before they came and James was struck again with how beautiful she looked. Sirius and James sat down at another table a few windows down so that James would have a good view of Lily.

"You know, I would say this obsession with Evans is getting a bit much but I think she's slowly starting to come around," Sirius said.

"How do I get her to like me?" James asked, "She seems to like you, Moony and Wormtail."

"Well, I would listen to what she calls you then take that as your lead," Sirius said as he got out a quidditch magazine from his pocket, "Oh, look, Gryffindor girls at eight o'clock," He said as he saw Hiba and Mary entering the library.

"Leave them, Padfoot, you know what they're like if you interrupt their study sessions."

"I'll teach them something," Sirius said with a flick of his eyebrows. He nodded as Hiba glanced over. She waved at them then continued her conversation with Mary. Sirius looked back at James who now was gazing out of the window.

"Oh cheer up Prongs," Sirius said as he flicked through his magazine, "We could go and thrash a few second years at Quidditch," James shook his head, "How about go swimming for a while," no response. Sirius shook his head in disapproval and shifted in his seat so he was more comfortable. "I don't understand why you're getting so worked up over it. It's not like she has a boyfriend."

"Two years, Padfoot," James mumbled. James turned to looked at Lily, "and I think she hates me more then she did when we first started,"

"You probably shouldn't have transfigured her hair in third year then," Sirius said with a smile, "That was classic! The look on McGonagall's face when we had to explain what happened," A small smile appeared along James' lips.

"That probably didn't help," James said.

"I don't think so," Sirius said with a smile. He turned around to look at the table of Gryffindors studying.

"You know, sometimes I think I should probably revise for Charms but then I think that I can't be bothered and the only reason to study anyway would be to get closer to Lily,"

"And even she doesn't want you revising with her," Sirius said with a grin, "Ah, you got it rough mate. If you don't fancy a girl then they can't mess with you."

"Thank you for your wonderful insight," James muttered. He put his head in his arms and closed his eyes while Sirius began reading then scanning the library for girls in sequences of five minutes each. After half an hour James was roused from his sleep by a girl clearing her throat. James turned and looked straight into Lily's waist. He sat up properly once he realised who it was and tried to press down his hair. Sirius looked up as well. Lily looked down at them with her arms crossed. She looked as though she didn't want to be standing there.

"Ev-Lily," James said. Lily looked at him slightly surprised but she regained her annoyed composure.

"Potter, Black. The others want to invite you to study with us," Lily said.

"I'd rather not," Sirius said, "I know it all already." Sirius winced as James kicked him under the table, "You know what, I lied. I'd love to study with you guys," Lily nodded and returned to the table. James stood up and dragged Sirius to the table.

"Yes, I know, I owe you," James said when he saw Sirius' look. They summoned some seats and sat down next to Remus and Lily. Lily glanced at James sitting next to her then turned to her book.

"We've covered all the basic charms now so we've just got a little bit on the more complex things to do then I think that's all we can do," Remus said to the group.

"Why do you need to revise this? You guys already know all this," Sirius said to the group.

"Better to be prepared," Hiba said as she wrote something down in her textbook. Sirius craned his neck to see what she'd written but she covered it with her hand.

"Fine," Sirius said.

"Do you think we'll have to learn the theory behind _Levicorpus_?" Lily asked.

"Why do we need to know theory?" James asked.

"She likes to learn everything," Mary explained.

"I'm just asking," Lily said, "Remus and I were discussing it the other day. I think that we might need to know it," James and Sirius both looked at Remus.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't think we'll need to learn the theory," Hiba said, "I asked Flitwick for a few past questions and I was running the syllabus past him and he said that he didn't think it would come up." James stared at them. He'd honestly never put this much thought into what to study. It honestly surprised him how in depth Lily was going into Charms. All he needed to know was which way to point the wand and what to say.

"Well, just teach me all you know because I don't think I'll pass this exam," Peter said as he gazed over the piles of notes that were scattered on the table. They belonged to Lily, Remus and Hiba since they took the most detailed and concise notes out of all the Gryffindors. James settled down enjoy the revision session. Any excuse to sit next to Lily for any time at all was time worth savouring.

"Right, so, the impedimenta charm-" Mary said.

* * *

"We're finished at last!" Sirius said as he punched the air after their Charms exam.

"Nothing to do for two whole weeks while the other years finish off," Peter said, "What are we going to do? Just sit in the sun?"

"Sounds good," Remus said.

"You want to play some Quidditch?" asked James, who until then had been ignoring his friends. He only joined in when he overheard Mary suggesting the girls go and relax at the Quidditch pitch.

"Why not?" Sirius grinned. Remus smiled as well and they went to go and fetch their brooms. James went to the quidditch cupboard and unlocked the door to steal a quaffle and a snitch. When they walked out onto the pitch they saw a group of Ravenclaws with their brooms laughing loudly. Lily, Hiba, Mary and the two other Gryffindor girls, Gabbie and Sarah, were talking with them. James watched as a final year Ravenclaw boy, put his hand on Lily's shoulder and whispered something to her that made her laugh. James instantly saw red and marched over to them.

"Hey Potter!" the Ravenclaw shouted, "You fancy a quick match? Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw?"

"Alright," James said, "Peter you want to play?"

"No, I think I'll sit this one out," he said.

"Alright, you're on Crawley, three on three," James said.

"Freedom rules?" He asked. James nodded. Crawley went to organise who he would play with when Sirius slapped James on the back.

"Way to go, Prongs. You've just challenged the Ravenclaw Captain. You know that he's tough,"

"I'm better," James said as he watched Lily and her friends walk off towards the stands. James loved playing Freedom Rules. There were two chasers and a beater but the chasers were also allowed to double up as seekers and goalie. One of the Ravenclaws scurried off to get a bludger and some bats.

"I'm beater," Sirius said.

"Suits me fine," Remus said. James mounted his broom and did a few quick manoeuvres. He hadn't played quidditch in a while. He looked down to see if Lily was watching and when she was he did a spectacular practice dive.

"Ready Potter?" asked Crawley.

"Of course," He replied as he took his place next to Sirius.

"Go!" shouted a Ravenclaw as he released the snitch and threw the quaffle towards Crawley. James shot forwards and nearly hit Crawley's head by only a few inches. He did a barrel roll as he did. He managed to pluck the ball from Crawley's hands and threw it to Remus. Remus caught it and did a sharp turn to the right to avoid a bludger. He passed it back to James once he'd flown free of the Ravenclaws and then James bolted towards the goals. To James' annoyance Crawley kept pace with his easily, having a slightly superior broom then James, it wasn't hard. Crawley flew into James and nudged him slightly off course. James pushed back and dropped the quaffle. He did a somersault with his broom and caught the quaffle a few feet below him. Crawley grinned at the challenge and flew at the goals to act as goalie. James glanced behind him and saw Sirius intercepting a bludger. He smacked it as hard as he could and the bludger flew past James' shoulder. Crawley had to dive out of the way to avoid being hit, leaving the goal free. James threw the quaffle and scored a goal. When he glanced down at the stands he saw Lily talking to Hiba and not watching the match.

"Watch me!" He muttered to himself before returning to the centre of the pitch to block the Ravenclaws. James cursed as Remus let a very easy shot get past him and nearly swore when Sirius nearly hit Remus instead of the Ravenclaw beater. Sirius was a member of the Quidditch team but Remus wasn't and James couldn't help feeling that they should have the best team, even if it was only a friendly match. James tried every manoeuvre he knew to get any number of goals he could get. It was a challenge that part of James enjoyed. Samuel Crawley was a very good Quidditch player and would probably go into professional Quidditch. His team mates were a seventh and a sixth year Quidditch players and so the three fifth years had some difficulty keeping up with the bigger and stronger boys. Eventually James saw the snitch by his own goal and caught it.

"Good game Potter," Crawley said with a grin, "I'm going to miss playing against you." He held out his hand and despite Crawley's blatant flirting with Lily James shook it. The girls came down from the stands.

"Good game guys," Hiba said, "Nice catch with the snitch James," James smiled and turned to Lily. She didn't look all too impressed and turned to the Ravenclaw boys.

"She's so infuriating. I try so hard to impress her and she just makes a date to go to Hogsmeade with Crawley once school is over," James ranted later in the common room.

"Well, it's not really a date. All of them are going," Remus said.

"Still, he'll be there. He's already been scouted into the Tornados."

"Why aren't you looking at the bright side of this?" Peter asked, "If she likes Crawley then it means that she doesn't completely detest Quidditch players like we thought she did." Sirius tore his gaze away from Hiba, who was laughing with Sarah Humphries, her roommate.

"You actually said something clever, Wormtail!" Sirius said. He softly punched Peter in the arm as the boy gave a sheepish grin. James just grumbled and stared at the window.

"Get your mind off it mate. Think about our holiday. Days of lying in the sun and playing Quidditch and maybe, even, Snivellus bullying. I found out where he lives," Sirius said with a grin.

"How?" James asked, his attention suddenly diverted from Lily.

"One word. Brother," Sirius said, "managed to wrangle it out of him." James grinned and conjured a piece of parchment and a quill.

"You two realise that tonight is the full moon?" Remus said as James and Sirius started planning.

"Don't worry, we'll be there as usual," Sirius said, "Do we ever forget?"

"Just reminding you," Remus said with a smile, "So what are we going to do?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:- Ok, I've decided i'll try and update at least once a week. Sorry for any inconsistencies in the storyline, i sort of forgot that there had been 11 years of voldemort before Harry so there might be a few references to him just gaining power. Hopefully i managed to get rid of it. Please review to let me know what you think.**

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**Chapter 2**

"Lily, listen to me. I don't want to spend the summer not talking to you," Severus said as he touched Lily's arm. She spun around and batted him away.

"No Sev. Just leave me alone," Lily said. Severus held her arm and pulled her into an empty compartment. "What do you think you're doing?" Lily demanded. For the last two weeks Lily had been avoiding Severus but he'd finally caught up with her as she returned from the Prefect's compartment.

"Lily, please, just hear me out-"

"I told you so many times already, Severus. What's done is done. You called me a Mudblood. I'm never going to forgive that, _never_," She said. Lily looked coldly at the hurt that showed on Severus' face. If he hadn't called her a Mudblood she would probably have felt sorry for him. Her anger at him had grown since the incident two weeks before. She had caught him, Avery and Mulciber trying to attack a muggle born first year Hufflepuff.

"I'll do anything Lily. I'll even stop hanging out with Avery and-"

"You know you'll become a Death Eater anyway. It's what you've been dreaming of becoming. Why don't you start with killing Mudbloods now?" Lily asked. She took her wand out from where it hung in her belt and threw it on the seat. She watched Snape's face twitch slightly then saw his knuckles turn white. He looked as though he wanted to say something to her but he wouldn't say it. Lily picked up her wand and put it back where she usually kept it.

"Leave me alone Severus. Everyone was right about you, even Petunia," Lily said. The disappointment in her voice was clear.

"What? Don't listen to that stupid Muggle. You know she's just jeal-"

"Don't you ever call my sister stupid!" Lily said as she turned on him with her wand.

"But she doesn't even like you,"

"She's still my sister and if you ever insult her or even go near her or me I'll deal with you myself instead of letting Potter do it and you know I'm much better then him Severus." Severus looked at the young red head with genuine fear.

"Alright," Severus said with a frown. Lily kept her wand up and left the compartment. She soon found her friends enjoying a huge pile of pumpkin cakes and Bertie Botts Beans bought by Hiba. Hiba watched Lily come into the compartment and sit down with a huff.

"Snape?" Hiba asked. Lily nodded, "Here, have a bean," Lily took the yellow bean and put in her mouth. She felt a sense of relief when she tasted banana. She sat cross legged on the floor by the door and looked up at her friends

"Where's Mary?"

"She's had dodgy flavoured brown bean. I believe she's currently making friends with the toilet," Gabbie said with a smirk.

"So what are you up to this summer now that all your plans with Snape have fallen through?" Asked Sarah. Lily shrugged.

"Maybe try and become friends with my sister again. Sev's presence never really helped our friendship," Lily said.

"Remember the invite to Pakistan is still open," Hiba said, "Mum is headed back to visit our family and she's taking me and my family with us."

"I'll be alright," Lily said, "I might go and visit Remus or even stay with my cousin's for a while."

"What if Snape turns up at your door?" Sarah asked.

"I think it'll be worth breaking the underage magic law," Lily said with a frown. Sarah smiled and crossed her legs.

"Lily Evans, breaking the law," Sarah said.

"She's already received about ten warnings," Hiba said seriously to Sarah, "She should have been kicked out of Hogwarts a while ago but Dumbledore wont part with one of his prize students, especially because she's muggleborn," Hiba said with a smile. Usually this kind of statement would annoy Lily but she and Hiba were so close that Lily knew that Hiba meant it as a compliment.

"Bloody hell Lily. I don't think Potter's received that many warnings," Gabbie said.

"Don't tell him," Lily told her, "He'd just throw it back in my face."

"Throw what back in your face?" Came Potter's voice from behind her. Lily felt someone help her up and she turned to see Potter smiling at her. Behind him Sirius, Remus and Peter tried to push into the already full compartment.

"Oh, you have food," Sirius said.

"Help yourself," Hiba said, "My treat." Sirius put his hands to his chest and smiled adoringly at Hiba.

"Have I ever said how much I doth love thee?" Sirius asked. Hiba smiled.

"Every single train journey we've had together since first year," Hiba said. Sirius smirked.

"Oh yeah, well, I love you," He said as he dived for the empty seat next to Sarah.

"Same goes from me," Peter said with a smile. Hiba laughed and moved up the seat for the others to sit in.

"Lily?" Remus asked as he made space for her. Lily looked at Potter and shook her head.

"I have to patrol the train. I'll be back soon," She said. She squeezed her way past Potter and out into the corridor.

"I'll be back in a minute," Potter said. Lily sighed and turned to see Potter catching up with her. "Hey Evans,"

"What do you want Potter? Transfiguring something again,"

"That was a few years ago," Potter said defensively, "I actually came with you to tell you that if Snivelly gives you any trouble I'm just an owl away,"

"Thanks Potter but I think I can handle him," Lily said.

"I don't think so," Potter said cockily. Lily stopped and looked at him.

"And why's that Potter?" Lily asked.

"Well, I know you're clever but lets face it, you're only a girl," Potter said as he waved his hand at Lily. Lily put her hands on her hips and looked at James. A few students peered out of their compartments to see what was happening.

"Who managed to get into the Slug club?" Lily asked. Potter laughed.

"The Slug club is a joke Evans. Do you actually think anyone wants to be in it? It's a group of upstart smartass students," Potter said. Lily couldn't help but smile in amusement.

"Alright Potter, if you say so but I remember you ranting in the common room that Slughorn chose me over you." Potter crossed his arms at that and just stared at Lily. Lily couldn't help but smile. To many people James Potter was an idol, to Lily he was just a spoilt child who was used to getting his way. She found a slightly perverse joy in rejecting him continuously.

"Look, I was just offering to help you. If you don't want it just tell me but I'll still look out for you, alright," Potter said firmly. Lily suddenly felt a twinge of guilt at the way she'd responded to him but it soon disappeared and was replaced by her usual feeling of disgust for Potter.

"Fine, just don't get in my way," Lily said to him.

"So do you mind if I join you on your patrol?" Potter asked, "It's a bit crowded in your compartment,"

"If you have to come you can," Lily said as she rolled her eyes. Potter smiled at her and offered her his arm. Lily ignored it and continued on with her patrol of the train. She stopped to talk to several people, mostly students who were about to leave Hogwarts. When she stopped to talk to Crawley she saw Potter bristle slightly. Potter did impress her in the fact that he stayed quiet most of the time and when he did speak he didn't say anything stupid. Not even when they passed Severus did Potter so much as glare in his direction. Lily noticed that Severus was ignoring her in front of his friends, which hurt slightly. Since first year every time she'd seen Severus he'd given her one of his rare smiles or waved discretely under his robes. This time he didn't and despite everything, Lily missed it.

Potter must have seen her expression change slightly because he pulled her gently to one side of the passageway and stopped her.

"It really got to you that much?" He asked.

"What did?" Lily asked. She cursed inwardly at her lack of control in front of Potter.

"Snape calling you a … a you know what," Potter said.

"No, I knew he would eventually," Lily replied. She felt Potter's eyes on her but she tried not to look into them.

"Lily, I know you were close to him. I may have disagreed with it but he was your best friend," Potter said, "Do you want to talk about it?" Lily risked looking up into his eyes. Something she generally tried not to do because she knew what Potter was capable of when a girl looked that way.

"No," Lily said. She pushed Potter away from her, "Just leave me alone," She stormed off down the train. She was glad that Potter didn't follow, and shut herself in the Prefect's carriage.

* * *

Severus Snape jumped off the train once it reached the platform. As usual his parents weren't there to meet him but he found Lily's parents. They nodded in his direction. They liked him enough to be polite but like many other people they never understood why their daughter took any interest in him. Severus waved back at them before being thumped on the back by Mulciber.

"What are you doing waving at Muggles?" he asked.

"They're Lily's parents," Severus told him.

"Ha, the mudblood. I'm proud that you wiped your hands of her. Now you can really become a Death Eater with us," Avery said quietly so that not many people could hear him. Severus nodded and looked back in the direction of the Evans. He saw Lily jumping off the train, drop her things and fly into her parents arms. They greeted each other with hugs and kisses. Things that Severus could only dream of getting from his parents. He saw Potter and Black and the rest of the Gryffindors clamber out. The various students going to meet their parents. He saw Potter being greeted by his mother, a fairly old looking witch who had a great smile of pride and joy on her face. Black was greeted with a nod while his brother was taken into his mother's arms. He even saw Narcissa Black meandering over to Sirius's parents.

Severus looked away and on his own made his way out of the station. He knew how to get home himself. He thought about taking the Knight bus but that would mean spending more time with his father because it would get there so quickly. He decided, instead, on Muggle transport. He had never had to do it before on his own but he and Lily had come into London enough times via muggle transport and he still had a few muggle coins left that Lily had once given him.

"Lily, why don't we give him a lift home?" came a familiar voice behind Severus. He glanced back to see George Evans behind them with his arm around his daughter.

"I'd rather you didn't. I'll explain when we get in the car," Lily said. She saw Severus looking at her and turned the other direction. Severus let out a sigh and made his way to the ticket office.

It was well and truly dark by the time Severus got home. It took him eight hours to get home but when he did he just wanted to return to Hogwarts.

"Mum, Dad," He called out as he put his trunk down in the hallway. He heard a shouting then a clatter from the kitchen, "Yes, I am home at last," he said to himself dryly.

"I WONT HAVE YOU BREWING THAT STUFF IN MY HOUSE!" He heard his father shout.

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT BEFORE!" His mother replied. Severus sighed, picked up his trunk and started up the stairs. The thumping of the trunk on the floor must have caught his father's attention because he suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"Where have you been? Your train arrived back hours ago," His father had cut his hair since Severus had last seen it.

"I-"

"Have you been out with that Evans girl again? They arrive home hours ago, we saw them arrive on the way back from the shops,"

"We-" His father started marching up the stairs. "I came back by train, not with Lily," Severus snapped at him before his father could reach him.

"Of course you did," Severus pulled out his wand and pointed it at his father.

"Don't come near me,"

"Or what Severus?" As his father came nearer Severus could smell that he'd been drinking again. It was all Severus could do to lift his head up to receive the coming blow on his chin. He felt his jaw click but he didn't get anything worse then a split lip. Severus pulled his trunk as quickly as he could up the remaining steps and bolted his door shut. He heard his father shouting on the other side of the door on the landing. He seemed to be shouting at anyone who would hear him but Severus just ignored him. He decided to unpack his things the next day and lay in bed. Next to his bed was a photo of him and Lily eating ice-cream at Florean Fortesque's the previous year. He stared at it for a while and watched as the photo Lily laughed and put ice-cream on Severus' nose. It had been a risky day out and as usual Diagon Alley was practically deserted behind them.

"I'm such an idiot," Severus muttered to himself as his father's shouting died and a door slammed. Severus stayed in bed for a few more minutes before venturing out of his room to the tiny kitchen. His mother was standing at the stove stirring something in a pot.

"Hi mum," Severus said. She didn't reply. Severus helped himself to some left over meat in the fridge and went to get some bread. As he opened the bread bin he saw the large bruise on his mother's face.

"He hit you again?" Severus asked. She grunted in reply, "Why don't you just leave? We could go and get a house in somewhere like Godric's Hollow or Hogsmeade even,"

"You know I can't leave," She said quietly. Severus frowned at his mother.

"You're a witch aren't you?" Severus asked.

"Yes, but he's my husband and I can't leave him. It would shame our family," she replied. Severus scowled and slammed the bread on the counter.

"You you're just going to suffer his abuse?" Severus demanded.

"Like you do anything yourself," She said angrily turning to Severus, "You're off at Hogwarts all year round and you can leave once you've finished." Severus's anger dissipated when he saw the marks on his mother's face. They were all fresh bruises that she hadn't healed up yet. She pointed her wand at Severus and healed his lip and fixed his bruise.

"Now go to bed," She said. Severus scowled again, took the bread and meat then left the kitchen. He hated his mother's attitude to everything but he hated her father even more. When he was old enough he would make him pay. If it hadn't been for Lily, Severus would have despised even being connected to the Muggle world. The only thing that had been good about it was that Lily was in it but now she wasn't in his life anymore. She hated him and it was time for Severus to try and forget about her. Was he not the Half-Blood Prince? He was half Prince. A noble and ancient Wizarding line. As he walked up the stairs he decided to embrace the fact he had his Mother's blood. He would forget that he was part Muggle and become purely wizard. There was just one thing he had to do first.

* * *

James lay in bed throwing his quaffle in the air and then catching it again. His room reflected the fact he was in Gryffindor and proud of it. The walls were red and gold, the domed ceiling had tiny quidditch players playing continuous games of Quidditch. One team were in the Gryffindor colours, the other in the colours of his favourite Quidditch Team, the Appleby Arrows. He was thinking about something Sirius had said earlier.

"See you later." He was expecting Sirius to come by any day soon and probably stay over for a few days. It had been a week since they'd last seen each other on the Hogwarts Express. They were planning quite a few little tricks on Snape this summer. Now that they knew where he lived it was simply a case of getting the bus over and transforming. Snape would never know the difference. Of course they weren't allowed to use magic but the two boys had found a way around that.

"James!" called his mother, "Sirius is here," James grinned and jumped out of bed. With the quaffle under his arm he slid down the banister and landed perfectly on the floor by the door. He saw Sirius standing in his doorway looking rather flustered and surrounded by bags.

"Padfoot!" James said as he dropped the Quaffle and hugged his 'brother'.

"James, mate, I've runaway from home," Sirius said, "Is it alright if I stay here for a bit?"

"Mum?" James asked as he turned to his mother.

"Of course it's alright, Sirius. I'll just have Gelyn take your things upstairs. You'll be in your usual room," Mrs. Potter said.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Potter," Sirius said as he hugged her. She laughed and patted Sirius on the back.

"Food will be ready shortly," She said as she wondered off. A rather energetic looking house elf appeared from nowhere and beamed up at Sirius and James.

"Master Black," She said with a bow, "A pleasure it is to see you again!"

"Hello Gelyn," Sirius said. The bags began to float in midair then popped out of sight. Gelyn disapperated as well and left the boys alone. James looked at Sirius. He looked distressed and more helpless then he'd ever been.

"You want to talk about it?" James asked him.

"I just couldn't stand it. Bella and Cissa were over and the entire family began discussing the best way to kill Muggles. Bella was boasting to the family about all the people she'd killed. She knows she can do it at home because the family applaud her efforts. They're so proud of her. The stupid Death Eater Bitch. Then Cissa brought up Lily and said something about mudbloods and I just snapped. I told them that one of my good friends was a muggle and the other was half muggle. They had no right to say anything against people they didn't now then they started talking about now Andromeda had fallen for a mudblood and about dear little Dora and that was it. I couldn't take them bad mouthing Lily and Ted. They're good people but -" Sirius stopped because he was shaking. The enormity of what he'd done had disturbed him more then he cared to say. James watched his friend with all the sympathy he could muster.

"She blasted me off the tree," Sirius muttered quietly after a few minutes, "I heard it as I left," Sirius was white by this time. James took his arm and led Sirius out to the garden where there was a large tree growing in the middle with a tyre swing and a wonderfully carved picnic table.

"You'll be alright here. You're practically family and mum and dad will look after you,"

"I know, it's just…I know they support You-Know-Who but…" Sirius looked at James, "They're family you know?" James nodded and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"Just forget about them. Take out your anger on Snivelly, only don't kill him cause we want him at school next year," James said with a smile in an attempt to cheer up his friend. It worked and Sirius perked up immediately.

"Drinks?" Mrs. Potter asked as she came outside into the sunshine.

"Thanks Mrs. Potter," Sirius said.

"I have to pop out for a while but Gelyn will get your dinner ready for you. Don't eat the cake James," She pointed at James and then at Sirius.

"Would we do that mother?" James said in his most innocent voice.

"Yes you would," She said, "Maybe I should get Remus over to keep an eye on you,"

"He's in Portugal at the moment," Sirius said. Mrs. Potter frowned then shook her head.

"Bye boys," She said. Once she left Sirius and James looked at each other.

"So, where does Snivelly live?" James asked with a cheeky smirk. Sirius' eyes lost their hopelessness and fear and were instantly replaced with their usual sparkle.

Moments later they were following Snape as he walked from Spinner's End to a slightly richer part of town. Sirius followed as a dog while James followed under his invisibility cloak. He would have transformed but a stag would have been a bit too obvious in a city. They followed him as he kicked a stone up a high street that had shops with graffiti all over the windows. He then turned a corner and went up a slightly nice residential area. Soon he was in another part of town entirely. The houses were slightly bigger and the lawns were immaculate. There were one or two that needed mowing. By looking at this neighbourhood James felt like nothing in the wizarding world was happening.

"Where's he going?" James asked. He saw Padfoot give a shrug as he sniffed around in a bush. James followed Snape to a semi-detatched house with a dark blue estate car in the driveway. James looked up at the house and saw a vine growing around the front door.

"Nice house," James said as he felt Padfoot bump into his leg. Snape paused and looked up a window that face the road. He set his shoulders and walked straight up to the door and knocked. James ran up the drive and stood by the garage door.

"Hi, is Lily in?" Snape said to someone when the door opened. James's eyes widened. Lily? Lily Evans? This was her house?

"What do you want Snape?" asked the person at the door. It was a voice that James would come to know well, though he didn't know it now.

"Petunia, is Lily in?" Snape asked. There was a pause then… "LILY!!" James walked out behind Snape and looked into the house. The girl at the door was a few years older then himself and very skinny. He saw a girl running down the stairs wearing a skirt and a strappy top. James felt a smile on his face when he saw Lily in her own home. She looked so happy and carefree. She stopped on the stairs when she saw Snape.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked him.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened," Snape said. The girl who was obviously Lily's sister looked at Lily with a curious look.

"I told you all you need to know on the train. Why are you here? I told you to stay away from me and Tuney,"

"I-"

"Get lost Snape!" Lily snapped. She looked like she was going to spit at him. James saw her hand twitching towards her waist, where he knew she kept her wand. James turned to look at Padfoot but his eyes wouldn't leave Lily.

"No, not until you listen to me," Snape said. Lily stormed down the stairs and face Snape. She was a good few inches shorter then him but she was scary when she was angry.

"I said get lost Snape. If I see your ugly Death Eater face around here again I will hurt you," She said.

"Lily I need to tell you something," Snape said.

"You have until I count to five," Lily said. Behind her Lily's sister looked delighted at this confrontation, "One…"

"I'm not going to become a Death Eater-"

"Two…"

"If you don't want me to become one. You will-"

"Three…" James knew that Lily wasn't even listening to Snape.

"Will you listen to me you mudblood bitch!" Snape said. He put his hands to his mouth as soon as the word came out. James reached for his wand but Lily was quicker. Lily had smacked Snape in the jaw with her fist. Snape fell onto the floor and Lily began nursing her hand. James fought the urge to cheer Lily on.

"Lily I'm-" but she's slammed the door in his face. Snape turned around to get up and saw Padfoot at the end of the driveway. Padfoot gave the dog equivalent of a grin and walked away. Snape looked around suspiciously then got up. He felt his jaw and winced in pain when he touched it. Once he was out of range, James punched the air and made a mental note to congratulate Lily. Maybe send her some chocolates or flowers.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:- helloo!! Please review to let me know how i'm doing. I wrote this chapter then realised that it's somewhat reminiscent to the attacks in London last year, so...a moment for the Londoners.**

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* * *

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**Chapter 3**

Severus walked through the woods. It was a hot day but he kept his long overcoat on anyway. He kicked a stone as he walked down a familiar path that had been grown over with weeds and flowers. Severus walked this way automatically without thinking about it. He was lost in his thoughts. He had hoped that with Lily at home maybe she would listen. Maybe even annoy her sister and remain friends with him but it hadn't worked. And then that word slipped out. Severus had had enough. His jaw still hurt quite a lot and there was a huge red mark where she had hit him. Severus wasn't worried about that though. When Lily hat hit him he had heard a crack and when he discovered that nothing had happened to his chin he realised that Lily must have broken her hand. He would go along with Mulciber and Avery and become a death eater. He would let the dark side embrace him, after all the only reason he held back on using dark spells was because of Lily. She had disapproved severely but why should that matter anymore.

Severus sighed as he thought about this. He'd lost Lily and now that she was no longer his he dreaded what might happen next. As they left Hogwarts she had been flirting with some Ravenclaw Quidditch players. Ravenclaws weren't so bad. But what if she started to like Potter. The thought made Severus turn white. He stopped when he realised he was in the clearing that he and Lily used to come to and talk before they had gone to Hogwarts. He sat down for a moment and folded his arms around his legs. Just as he'd gotten comfortable he felt something loop around his ankle then he was pulled from his sitting position. Before he knew what had happened he was hanging from a tree with a rope around his right ankle. He had started to struggle but it made the rope around his ankle tighter.

"Look what we've caught here Prongs?" Black said with glee.

"Looks like a bat," Potter said as they appeared from behind a bush. Severus glared at them and tried to hit one of them.

"Snivellus Snape, out in the day time. This is unprecedented," Black said as he pushed Severus so he spun around, "Quick Prongs, we need to inform the Prophet. Snape seen in the daylight! Vampires really must like the light," he laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Severus snapped at them.

"Just exploring. We realised we've never travelled up north like this before," Black said, "It's very nice here,"

"Nice clothes Snivellus," Potter said as he plucked at Severus' overcoat, "Family heirloom?"

"Get stuffed Potter," Severus snapped.

"Would love to Snape, but I can't." He grinned as he gave Severus a push, "I thought we told you to stay away from Lily Evans after she broke that freak of a nature thing you called a friendship," James said.

"Leave me alone Potter," Severus said.

"You heard what he said, Prongs," Black said with a smile. Potter smiled back and they just walked off down the path. Severus fought the urge to call out for help until he was sure that they had gone so far away that they couldn't hear him. After about ten minutes he began shouting for help and trying to get down.

* * *

"And you just had to punch him?" Hiba asked Lily. 

"Well…no, but he just made me so angry," Lily muttered. She sat in Hiba's living room wincing in pain as Hiba's mother gently examined her hand. Hiba was trying hard not to laugh while her brothers and sister weren't quite so subtle.

"You must have punched him hard," Hiba's mother told Lily, "your index finger looks as though it's a little off,"

"That's why I came to you," Lily said politely, "Mum and dad wanted to take me to a muggle hospital but I didn't want to spend the entire summer with my fingers strapped together."

"Right," Hiba's mother took out her wand and gently touched Lily's fingers with it. There was a popping noise as Lily's index finger went back into the socket, "Next time you want to punch someone, make sure you do it correctly," Hiba's mother said with a smile. Lily knew that she found the whole affair rather amusing as well.

"Well, Snape had it coming. After everything you've done for him and he turns round and-"

"Thanks Hiba," Lily said dryly, "I'm trying to forget that I was ever friends with Snape," Lily thought for a moment then perked up. "Which reminds me, I'm burning all my photos of him. Do you want to come along?" Hiba looked to her mother.

"As long as you're back by seven. It's too dangerous for you to be out any later and we're leaving tomorrow at eight," She said, "If you want to stay later send an owl and I'll have your dad pick you up."

"Thanks mum!" Hiba said. Lily and Hiba stood up and went towards the door.

"Thank you Mrs. Qazi," Lily said.

"Any time dear," She said, "Are you sure you don't want to come to Pakistan with us? It's certainly safer there for you,"

"I'll be alright here as long as I stay low. Mum and dad want me to spend a bit more time in England first, I'm afraid," Lily said with a smile.

"Alright, remember Hiba, seven." Lily and Hiba returned home using the knight bus, even though they knew the risks of travelling with it.

"I want to go through the photos and cut out Snape from my photos, or cut out the good ones of me," Lily said. Hiba smiled and said hello to Petunia.

"Freak," Petunia muttered as she ignored Hiba's presence and turned away.

"Sheep," Hiba replied. Petunia scowled but continued to ignore her. Lily smirked at Hiba and they started laughing once they were in Lily's room. With a smile on her face, Lily opened up a box and tipped out a load of photos onto her bed. They were a mixture of Muggle and wizarding photos. Slowly but surely, while recounting a million and one memories, Hiba and Lily sorted through the ones with Severus in them. Lily felt a pain in her chest as she did so but ignored it, choosing to smile rather then sulk.

"Any news from Crawley then?" Hiba asked as they carried Severus' photos down the stairs.

"Not really. After Hogsmeade he just sort of disappeared," Lily said, "I tried to send him a few owls but he hasn't replied. Jenna hasn't replied either,"

"Do you think that maybe You-Know-Who-"

"Nah, Samuel is too strong besides, both his parents are magical," Lily said. She felt like hitting Hiba for bringing up You-Know-Who. The argument with Severus and exams had pushed him from her mind for a while. So many were being attacked and killed everyday that the Prophet had simply reverted to writing a list of the dead. Lily had examined them every day and so far she had not yet seen anyone she knew on the list, she recognised some names. Lily didn't worry too much about herself. As she had said to Hiba's mother. As long as she kept a low profile and didn't do any more magic outside of school she would be fine. She wouldn't have worried at all if it hadn't been for one little thing that put her in more danger then most of her friends. You-Know-Who killed muggle-borns. She had heard the stories about it and had once had a nightmare about it.

"Samuel's dad is a muggle-born," Hiba said as they threw the photos into Lily's dad's incinerator. "Dad said that he'd annoyed a few people though by emphasizing the fact he was muggle-born,"

"What's wrong with that?" Lily asked as she paused to look at her friend.

"Rumour has it that he's not a very good wizard," Hiba said, "He was in Hufflepuff when he went to Hogwarts,"

"How do you know all this?" Lily asked. Hiba smiled.

"My dad works closely with the ministry remember," Hiba said, "He tells me things that I'm not really supposed to know,"

"And you tell me," Lily said with a grin. She went to the kitchen to get a box of matches and lit a few rolls of newspaper. She threw them into the incinerator with the photos. The fire took light immediately. The girls stood back and watched the fire burn. Lily thought about You-Know-Who and the possibility that maybe the Crawleys had done something to annoy him. Lily didn't know much about this wizard and he probably wouldn't get very far but she couldn't help worrying anyway.

* * *

"Dear Remus, how have you been? Are you feeling any better this month. I noticed that it's coming to that time of the month when you usually disappear to the hospital wing and I thought about you for a while. There are a few things I've been wondering about and want to ask you some questions. Would you mind? If you have a secret and I guess it right I hope you'll trust me enough to tell me. I'll be in London in a few days time with my parents and I would love to meet up with you. I'm feeling rather lonely with Hiba in Pakistan and Snape…well…you know what happened. I really hope we can see each other. Bring Peter if you want, he always entertains me. All my love, Lily," James read as he rifled through Remus' stuff. Sirius lay on Remus' bed pulling the petals off the flower he had picked earlier. He was making a huge mess on the bed but Remus had decided not to say anything to Sirius that could possibly annoy him. 

"She knows," Peter said. There seemed to be a slight sweat on his forehead. Remus scowled and looked at his friends. "How did she find out?"

"Do we tell her?" Remus asked.

"It's up to you," Sirius told him in a bored voice, "What I want to know is why now? We all know Lily is a smart witch but why has she chosen now to ask you about it? It's the beginning of August!"

"I don't know," Remus said, "but if she knows about it do you think anyone else would have figured it out?"

"Doubt it," James said as he span himself in Remus' desk chair. It was stifling hot outside and it wasn't much better inside, "Only Snivellus knows but even he only thinks you're a werewolf, he doesn't know for certain."

"Are you going to meet up with her?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. Didn't see the harm in it. It's nice to have someone intellectual to talk to," Remus said.

"Do you know how dangerous it'll be? She can't go near Diagon Alley, and neither can you, except on certain days," James told Remus. The only days that anyone under the legal age could go to Daigon Alley were special days in August when they went to get school supplies.

"We're not going into Wizarding London! We'll stay in Muggle London. Do you think we're idiots?"

"Hm," Sirius replied.

"You guys can come too,"

"She only wants to see you and Peter,"

"I think we should go," James said to Sirius, "You need cheering up. You've been a miserable sop since you moved into my house."

"Well, can you blame me?" Sirius asked. None of the boys replied, "And you only want to go because it's a chance to see Lily,"

"No it's not!" James said. It was true. As much as he liked Lily he had only thought about Sirius. Sirius had moped around for days. He tried not to show it in front of the other Marauders but they knew that running away had affected Sirius more then he would let on.

"When are you seeing her?" Peter asked.

"This afternoon," Remus said.

"What? But you said you were free all day!" Sirius replied.

"Actually, I never said anything of the sort. You just sort of barged in, remember?" Remus asked with an amused smile.

"What do you say?" James asked Sirius, "It's not that far to get to, where are you meeting?"

"We're meeting at Trafalgar Square," Remus said.

"See, not that far," James looked at Sirius. Sirius grumbled for a while then finally agreed. James grinned. Not only was he going out with his friends but he was also going to spend time with Lily. "Come on, lets head out then!" He said enthusiastically.

A few hours later James splashed Sirius with water from the fountains at Trafalgar Square. Sirius fought back and then splashed Peter. The three of them were having a water fight while Remus went to meet Lily. Around them Muggle children were screaming with joy at the commotion the boys were making. Some of them joined in while others just stood and clapped their hands.

"Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail!" Remus shouted from the edge of the pool. James turned around to see him standing next to the radiant red haired beauty that was Lily Evans. He beamed for a moment before being tackled into the water by Sirius. When James came up to breath he hit Sirius and clambered out of the pools.

"Hi Evans," James said breathlessly.

"Potter," She said. She looked rather annoyed that he was there, "What are you doing here?"

"I invited them," Remus said before James could answer, "Padfoot has been going through quite a lot with his family and we thought he'd like a day out. I thought it was only fair to invite Prongs as well," Lily still didn't look impressed but at least she believed him. Behind James, Sirius had picked up a young child who was clapping with happiness and was about to throw him at Peter.

"Um, excuse me for a sec," Remus said as he ran to stop Sirius. James stood in front of Lily uncomfortably. She gazed at him for a second before looking at the people around her.

"How have you been Lily?" James asked.

"Alright, you?" She replied.

"It's been good. Well, except when Sirius arrived at my house,"

"I thought you were his best friend?" Lily asked.

"He ran away from home earlier in July," James said. A look of shock spread over Lily's face, "don't tell him I told you though. He doesn't really like people to know the intimacies of his life,"

"Is he alright?" Lily asked.

"Yeah he's fine,"

"I didn't know that he had that many problems with his family. I mean, I knew he didn't like them, but to run away-" Lily stopped as the others came up to them. She gave them a smile and hugged Peter.

"Hi Evans," Sirius said.

"Padfoot," She said with a smile. Sirius looked surprised as Lily used his nickname instead of 'Black'.

"So where are we off to?" Peter asked, "I'm hungry."

"Um, there's some nice places to eat at Covent Gardens," Lily said.

"But that's so far away!" Sirius whined jokingly. Lily saw straight through his pretence and smiled.

"Oh come on, the exercise will do you good!" Lily said as she pulled him by the arm.

"Evans!" Sirius complained as she dragged him to the underground station. The others followed behind. James was content to just see Lily joking with his best friend. Seeing Lily again after so many weeks made his mind slow down slightly. He rarely saw her in muggle clothing, she had a tendency of only really wearing her school uniform, and though she looked good in her uniform and her pyjamas, she looked even better in muggle clothes. James just wanted to be near her.

"She seems surprisingly willing to get along with Padfoot," Remus remarked as they climbed down the stairs to get some tickets for the underground.

"I told her about what happened to him," James said.

"Ah, yes," Remus said with a nod. They caught up with Lily and Sirius at the barriers. Lily had bought them all tickets as none of them actually had any muggle money except her.

"You guys will owe me," She said to them,

"I'll buy the rounds next time we go to Hogsmeade," James said to her. Lily looked at him sceptically.

"How about some new underwear. I saw some in this magazine and I think they will look fantastic on -"

"Finish that sentence Padfoot and you'll find my foot up your arse," Lily said with a smile. Sirius made a motion of zipping up his mouth. Lily distributed the tickets and led the way onto the underground. It was the first time James had been on the Muggle underground system. The platform was crowded with people and it reminded him of platform 9 ¾ at eleven o'clock. When the train came everyone was crammed on and James was delighted to find that a group of rowdy teenagers were taking up so much room Lily was forced to press against James and as she couldn't reach a pole she held onto James. James smiled and looked at Sirius. Sirius gave him a wink and turned to talk to Remus. They had to change trains to get to Covent Gardens and again Lily was forced to stand against James. It was turning out to be a fantastic trip in James' opinion. They were about to reach Covent Garden Station when the train screeched to a halt. Everyone tumbled to the floor and James caught Lily as she fell. She looked at James for a moment then looked around them. As people started to get up the lights of the train flickered out of existence.

"What the hell is going on?" shouted someone in the train.

"I'm going to complain to the-" There was a loud bang at the front of the train. Everyone went silent then after a few silent moments, they started screaming.

"Lily!" James shouted.

"I'm here," She replied. He felt her hand grip his arm.

"Prongs! Mate, you there?"

"Yeah, I have Lily as well." James said. He groped around in front of him and received a slap, "oops, wrong person," he muttered with a grin that no one could see.

"Try raising your hands higher," Lily told him. James did as she said and walked straight into Remus.

"What the…Prongs!" He snapped, "That was my nose!"

"I thought something felt slimy," James joked back.

"What's happening?" asked Peter timidly.

"Have no clue, if only we could use our wands," Sirius said. There was another bang and James felt Lily holding onto his arm even tighter then before. He took her hand and put his arm around her protectively. He expected her to slap him but she just tensed and let him hold her.

"Wormtail, you need to go and have a look," James said.

"No way, I'll be trodden on," Peter said.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Uh, nothing," Sirius said. Suddenly there was a small disc of light coming from Lily's wand.

"Lily!" Remus said.

"You're not supposed to do magic" James hissed.

"Oh relax," She said as she shone the light into his face. She shone the light around.

"Someone's got a torch,"

"Go and see what's happening." James reluctantly let go of Lily and went to the doors.

"Padfoot, help me open this. Lily, shine the light here," James said. They took one door each and with some effort they managed to open them. James and Sirius jumped down from the train onto the tracks as they saw a bright red light flash in front of them.

"Death Eaters!" Sirius said when he saw them. James saw them at the same time as Sirius did. They wore their masks proudly and they were trying to break into the train. When Sirius spoke one looked at him and pointed at him. James swore and turned to the others.

"Everyone off the train!" He shouted, "it's under attack!" People started breaking windows and jumping out of the train. James jumped back into the train and looked for Lily. He knew the boys would be alright but his main concern was Lily. If they were Death Eaters then she was in more danger then the rest of them.

"She's here Prongs," Remus said from outside. James jumped out of the train and was about to hug Lily with relief when a Death Eater pointed at them.

"They're from Hogwarts! I recognise them," a female Death Eater said. James recognised that voice and looked at Sirius. Bellatrix Black.

"She's a mudblood!" another said pointing at Lily.

"Don't call me Mu-"

"Not now Lily," James said as he pulled her away from them. He needed to get them to some open space with less people. He wanted to fight these Death Eaters but not with so many muggles around.

"Get them!" hissed a tall thin figure. The only one not wearing a hood. They all started running in the same direction as the Muggles. James peered back and saw the Death Eaters killing the muggles who got in their way. He pulled out his wand and turned around.

"Stupefy!" He shouted, the spell hit the first Death Eater, "Lily get behind me."

"I'm not going to hide behind you Potter," Lily said as Sirius and Remus took their cue to start using magic.

"It's too danger-" James was shocked into silence as Lily fired a series of spells without having to utter a single word. She turned to look at James with a smug smile.

"When you two have finished bickering we could use some help," Sirius said as he dodged a curse. James started firing all the spells he knew to give the muggles more time to escape. It was hard to aim as the tunnel was dark and the only thing that was truly obvious were the spells coming towards them. James saw Lily clambering into the train carriage and fire a few spells in the train. He tried to get in as well but a killing curse missed him by inches and prevented him from getting in.

"Sirius, help Lily," James said. Sirius nodded and darted for the door. They only needed to hold them up for a little bit longer and the Aurors would arrive. James fired a few more spells, mostly stunning spells. Suddenly out of nowhere a couple of Aurors appeared in front of him. Inside the train an Auror apparated and sent a jinx at the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters bolted but not before one of them sent a curse hurtling through the train carriage. James heard a scream and knew that Lily had been hit by it.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked an Auror with a gruff voice.

"My friend-"

"She'll be fine, you're coming with me. Take the boys with us," The Auror said. "Longbottom, take the girl to St. Mungos."

"Ha, it's the Potter boy!"

"Shut up and lets get back. Did we get any of them?"

"Only one this time, Moody, but it's one more then we had a week ago,"

"Lets go," Moody said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Why are we here?" Sirius Black demanded, "We didn't do anything wrong! We were only trying to defend the Muggles,"

"I know boy but we need to bring you in anyway," Moody replied.

"Where's Lily?" James asked.

"The Girl? She's been looked after and her parents have been informed," Moody said. James sighed with relief and slumped in his chair. Remus and Sirius were looking rather annoyed and Peter looked ready to wet himself. They were sitting in an interview room at Magical Law Enforcement.

"Why do you need us here?" Remus asked politely.

"You were witnesses to one of You-Know-Who's attacks,"

"What?" Sirius asked, "Those Death Eaters?" Moody leant forwards on the table and looked at them all.

"One of them wasn't a Death Eater, one was the Dark Lord himself," He growled at them, "Feel lucky that you're alive. There were many Muggles down there, probably half the train didn't survive." James felt like a bucket of cold water had just been thrown on top of him.

"How many was that?" He asked in a small voice.

"Probably about five hundred," Moody said, "What were you doing on the underground anyway?"

"We were going to Covent Garden with Lily Evans," Peter stammered.

"Why didn't you just walk?"

"Because Sirius is a lazy git," James said. Moody was about to ask something else when the door burst open and their parents filed in. James and Sirius were engulfed in the Potter's arms while Remus and Peter appeared to be losing breath in their parent's arms. Peter was actually turning slightly purple as his mother held him so tightly.

"Thank Merlin that you're all safe," James' mother said.

"What were you thinking trying to fight You-Know-Who?" His father demanded.

"Well, someone had to protect the Muggles," Sirius said. They turned to look at Moody.

"Can we go and visit Lily now?"

"Yes, you may go now," Moody said.

"Who's Lily?" James' mother asked.

"The girl that Prongs is in love with," Sirius said. He tried to make it humorous but it was difficult. James just wanted to get over to St. Mungos. They took the floo network over to the busy magical hospital. As they entered they encountered some stern looking Aurors, who looked at them suspiciously.

"It's alright, they're the boys who survived the attack," said an Auror behind. James looked at him and recognised him as the person Moody had called Longbottom. The Aurors let them through and James gave him a nod of gratitude. The hospital was filled with muggles who needed treatment from the attack. James detached himself from his parents and pushed through the throngs of people. He pushed his way to the desk.

"Lily Evans?" the receptionist said, "She's being treated at the moment. Only family is allowed in with her. She's not allowed to have visitors for another day or so,"

"What!" James shouted, "I need to see her to see if she's alright!"

"And who are you?" the receptionist asked tartly.

"I'm her…" James paused for a moment, "Fine, I'll come back tomorrow,"

* * *

Lily felt a numb feeling in her arms. She couldn't feel her hands and as she tried to move her fingers she knew that they weren't moving even though her eyes were closed. Her leg felt strange too. There was a strange tingling heat in it. She tried to open her eyes but had to close them as the light hurt her eyes. She frowned with worry as she thought that her arms had been removed. How had they been removed? She couldn't remember.

"Lily, darling," came her mother's voice. Lily's fears subsided slightly as she moved her head in the direction of her mother's voice. She tried to open her eyes again but did so slowly this time. She saw her mother sitting on one side and when she turned around she saw her father sitting on her other side.

"Where am I?" Lily croaked. She looked down and saw her arms lying by her side. She gave a sigh of relief as she realised her arms were still attached.

"You're at um…St. Munnos?" Her father said uncertainly.

"St. Mungos?" Lily asked.

"That's it," He said with a smile, "You were involved in an attack, um, they told me the specifics but most of it flew past me,"

"Something about Death Eaters attacking a train," Her mother explained.

"Why am I here?" Lily asked.

"Curse," Her mother said.

"I can't feel my arms," Lily said with a miserable expression. She tried to sit up.

"Yes, the healers said that might happen. Just give it a few days and they'll be fine," Her Father said. He put his hand on the side of Lily's face and sighed, "Just be grateful you're still alive and in one piece," Lily smiled at them and looked at the end of the bed. She realised she didn't remember much beyond the lights going out on the train. She made a mental note to ask Remus what happened.

"How long ago was it?"

"About a week ago," Her mother said, "We came here as soon as we got the message about you,"

"That means my OWL results should have come," Lily muttered. Her parents laughed and Lily smiled at them.

"You know some boys from your school came to visit you," Lily's mother said, "Um, a James and Sirus,"

"Potter and Black," Lily said, "What did they want?"

"Just to see if you were ok," Lily's mother gave Lily a look that was somewhat suggestive, "James was a rather good looking boy,"

"Mum," Lily said with a sigh, "I get it enough at school, I don't need you to tell me to go out with him," She lay back into her bed and sighed.

"I'm just saying," She said, "Maybe with someone like him around maybe you'll get into less trouble and be in less danger. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you finally ended things with that Snape boy,"

"I wasn't dating him,"

"Wasn't saying you were. But maybe…"

"Maybe this isn't the time, Sophie," Lily's father said, "Do you know why those people attacked you?"

"Because it was a train full of Muggles, non-magic people. If they targeted me in particular then it's because I'm a muggle born witch," Lily said sadly.

"I thought you were one of the best in your school," Her mother said.

"I am, but it doesn't make a difference to them. You could be useless at magic but if you have a history of witches and wizards in your blood it's alright. They won't hurt you," Lily said. Her parents looked at each other then gave Lily an encouraging smile.

"We know that you don't want to return to our world any more, not that you've had a taste of the magical world. You're strong and you're powerful so we trust that you'll be safe and responsible, won't you?"

"Of course I will," Lily said.

"Good," Her father said, "When you have use of your arms again we have a present for you," Lily perked up and looked at him, "But you're not having it before then," He grinned at Lily and she smiled back.

* * *

"Post for Lily Evans," called a porter as he walked past Lily's hospital room.

"That's me," Lily said raising a hand.

"Your parents just dropped it off," the Porter said. Lily grinned as she did so, she hadn't had use of her arms for about a week and now they were better. She knew she'd be home within a few days. James smiled at her as the man handed her a letter from Hogwarts. They had all received their OWL results a week ago but Lily hadn't been able to receive hers until today and it was amazing how much anxiety her face could show. James had come with Sirius and Remus to see how Lily did. On the other side of the bed sat Mary and Hiba, who had returned when she'd heard that Lily had gotten hurt.

"What have you got?" Hiba asked.

"I bet I've failed," Lily said, "I was so nervous on the history of Magic exam. I got really confused with -"

"Just open the damn letter!" Sirius said with a grin.

"I am!" Lily replied. She opened it carefully and pulled out the letter. James watched her face as she frowned then grinned, "All Os!"

"Excellent!" Remus said, "Same as Hiba then,"

"We rock!" Hiba said as she and Lily Hi-fived.

"Well done Lily," James said.

"Thanks," Lily said with a grin, "What did you get?"

"All Os except Divination and history of Magic," James said.

"Thought you might," Lily said. There was a knock at the door. They all looked up to see a boy from their school looking somewhat embarrassed.

"I thought Lily would be on her own," He said. Lily gave a shrug. The boy was the seeker for Ravenclaw. He was a tall well built boy in the year above them and James didn't like him very much. He was a bit of a playboy in the school aiming for the girl that everyone wanted.

"Hi Mo," Lily said with a smile

"Hi, um, can I talk with you alone?"

"Ever since the attack we're not leaving her side," Sirius said defensively.

"Like I'm going to attack her, my mum is a Muggle-born witch!" Mo said to him. Sirius appeared to be thinking then crossed his arms.

"It's alright Sirius," Lily said. "What are you doing here? I thought you went on holiday," Mo moved to the end of her bed and sat down. James, Sirius and Remus all watched him carefully. Hiba and Mary seemed quite relaxed and started talking quietly.

"I got back this morning and heard about you from Peter, who I met in Diagon Alley," He added when he saw James about to say something, "I thought I'd come and see how you were,"

"I'm good," Lily said with a smile.

"Is it true that You-Know-Who attacked you?"

"Yes, but it was nothing," Lily said, trying to pass it off casually.

"Nothing? The Prophet said that six hundred people had been killed!" Mo said. "Then just after that he attacked the Knight bus. Killed a Muggle born wizard and a half-blood witch."

"What?" Lily asked seriously. James felt suddenly uncomfortable. There was an awkward silence in the room as Lily looked at her friends then to the boys. No one answered her and the first clue came when Hiba glanced at James.

"We didn't want to worry you," James said.

"Oh, you didn't think that I wouldn't want to know about what's happening outside? I need to know if people are being attacked. He attacked the knight bus! That's my main form of transport in the wizarding world. If that's not safe how am I going to travel around safely?"

"Sorry, I didn't think you needed to know because you're safe in St. Mungos," James snapped.

"Oh so you're in charge of what I can and cannot see?"

"No, it's just that-"

"James, don't try and take over my life!"

"Who says I'm taking over, I just didn't want you to become stressed," James said. Both of their voices were rising as they argued.

"Um, guys," Sirius said trying to stop the arguing,

"So what if I care for you? I can't help it can I? I'm just trying to help, maybe make things right but you seem so insistent to ruin anything I try and do for you!" James snapped at Lily before grabbing his bag and storming out of the room. Sirius ran out after him.

"What was that about?" Sirius asked.

"That's it! I'm through with Lily Evans!"

* * *

Lily was still wound up with the argument with James Potter when she arrived home. The arrogant little piece of…She took a deep breath. He wasn't even her friend and he was trying to control her. Did he really think he was going to win any points with her by annoying her like this? She limped into her house and slumped into her sofa. Petunia, thankfully, wasn't there. She had recently met someone who seemed to keep her out of the house quite a lot. Lily was about to close her eyes when Hiba batted her legs off the end of the sofa. Lily looked at Hiba with amusement as Hiba sat down.

"Have you ever thought about being a bit nicer to James?"

"Why should I?" Lily asked as she put her legs in Hiba's lap.

"Oh, I don't know, there is just this attraction-" Lily hit Hiba's arm.

"There is no attraction between me and Potter! When will you and Mary learn that I'm not interested. Mo is much more my kind of person. He studies hard, he's good looking, he's not an arrogant, self-absorbed arse."

"Mo?" Hiba asked, "Since when were you interested in him?"

"Why do you think I started hanging out with the Revenclaws?" Lily said with a smile on her face. Hiba let out a scream and hit Lily.

"You little minx!" She said. Lily laughed and sat up.

"At first I was rather interested in Samuel but he turned out to be a player and then he left the school but before then my interests had gone to Mo," Lily said as she smiled, "He asked me out after you guys left yesterday," Lily said quietly. Hiba let out another scream of happiness for her friend. Lily laughed and clapped her hands over her ears.

"What's all this noise?" Lily's Father asked as he came into the room carrying a box.

"Nothing, just something about school," Lily said. She looked at Hiba who seemed almost unable to contain herself.

"Well, Lily, we said we had a present for you," Lily's mother said as she followed her father in. Lily sat up properly and swung her feet to the floor.

"What is it?" Lily asked. Her father put the box on her lap.

"Don't shake it!" He said as Lily raised it to her ear. She looked at it rather intrigued. It was too heavy to be clothes, not heavy enough to be books or money or the music player she wanted. She put it down and pulled off the paper. Inside was a box with holes in the top. Lily's breath caught in her throat. After five years her parent's hadn't bought it for her? She trembled as she opened the box and peered inside. In the box was the cutest, fluffiest grey kitten she'd ever seen. It looked up at her and mewed at her. Lily fell in love with it instantly. She picked it out of the box and held it. It was barely bigger then her palms and it mewed again.

"It's a girl cat," Lily's Father said.

"I'm going to call it Muffin," Lily said. She looked at Hiba who seemed as stunned as Lily.

"We thought you earned it," Lily's mother said, "Considering how hard you work at school and how we so nearly lost you," Lily handed Muffin to Hiba then went to hug her parents.

"Thank you," Lily said.

"She's so cute," Hiba said as they played with Muffin on Lily's bed later that evening. It turned out that Lily's parents had also bought several toys for Muffin as well as all the things they needed for a cat. Hiba dangled a ball of catnip on the string and jiggled it above Muffin. Muffin lay on her back tried to claw at it. Lily couldn't take her eyes off her new pet.

"It'll be nice to have a pet in the dorm," Lily said, "Particularly one as cute as Muffin, isn't that right Muffin?" Lily began scratching Muffin's belly and she mewed and gave her a playful bite on the finger. Lily laughed and lifted the tiny cat up.

"When are you going to go out with Mo next?" Hiba asked as Lily put Muffin in her lap and struggled to keep her there.

"I don't know, maybe next week sometime?" Lily said, "He's got to go and visit his grandparents then we'll go out,"

"Have to say I didn't figure you to go to him," Hiba said, "James and Sirius are really not going to happy," Lily let go of Muffin and looked at Hiba.

"James Potter? Why should I care what he thinks?" Lily asked quietly.

"You know he doesn't just like you, he's crazy about you," Hiba said, "Sirius told me he thinks that James is in Love with you." Her voice had gotten lower as she spoke. Lily just stared at Muffin and shrugged.

"Doesn't act like it," Lily said, "Can we not talk about James Potter?" Lily asked as she felt herself fill with anger at his name.

"Fine," Hiba said. Lily could tell that she wanted to keep talking about Potter but Lily changed the subject before she could.

"How was Pakistan? I haven't been able to ask you because of the others,"

"It was the usual. Heat, family, missing friends," Hiba said, "The rest of the family is still there obviously,"

"Where are you staying?"

"With my cousin," Hiba said, "Don't worry, I'll be alright," Lily nodded and lunged to catch Muffin before she jumped off the end of the bed.

"You thought any more about what you want to do after you leave Hogwarts?" Lily asked Hiba as she tickled her new kitten.

"I thought about becoming a Healer, like mum, but I don't know," Hiba said, "I'm going to stick to the same NEWTs as you though. They're a good selection,"

"That will be fun," Lily said with a smile, "Professor Slug will like it."

"He said I might join his club this year," Hiba said. Lily grinned, "After he actually realised who my dad was,"

"Go slug club!" She laughed. "It's a joke, it really is,"

"And yet everyone still wants to be in it," Hiba said, "What do you actually do?"

"Sit around drinking tea and discussing the latest advances in Magic or politics or whatever," Lily said, "It's quite good if you're interested in that kind of stuff."

"Nice," Hiba said.

* * *

**A/N:- Only thing I can really say is please review, I appreaciate all feedback**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:- Sorry about the delay in update. I've been on a short holiday and busy with house hunting for my final year of uni (yay!). Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please reveiw and tell me what you think. Remember I can only improve the story if I know what people think of it.**

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* * *

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**Chapter 5**

James pursed his lips as he watched Lily Evans walk past him. He and his friends were sitting outside Florean Fortescue's when he'd seen Lily Evans walking past hand in hand with that Ravenclaw final year. She looked like her usual self again, complete with her posse of friends. When Sirius had waved at them only Hiba had seen them and waved back. Each of the girls had at least three bags in their hands and Mo, the Ravenclaw, was holding a new broom in his hands.

"Since when have they started seeing each other?" James asked Remus bitterly.

"Dunno, it's not like she divulges all her secrets to me," Remus asked.

"Our relationship with her didn't improve much either when you went off at her at St. Mungos," Sirius said. Remus nodded in agreement, "We were so close to getting into their good books,"

"What? You're already in all their good books except Lily's," James said.

"Why do you want to be in her good books?" Peter asked Sirius.

"Better to have her as your ally then as your enemy," Sirius said, "I'm choosing my alliances now,"

"What? We haven't even left Hogwarts!" Remus said as he scooped the rest of his ice cream out of his cup. Around them Diagon Alley was so packed that it was difficult to move around. Everyone was taking this opportunity to buy school supplies while the Aurors protected every single nook and cranny in Diagon Alley. They felt so safe with the Aurors around that it felt almost as if You-Know-Who wasn't around, if you ignored the law enforcement.

"Yeah, well, for some of us we don't have that luxury," Sirius said darkly.

"So did Lily ever ask you about your secret?" Peter asked, steering the conversation away from the dangerous subject of Sirius' family.

"No, seems she's forgotten all about it," Remus said.

"That's good isn't it?" Peter asked.

"Actually, I'd quite like to tell her," Remus said, "I was thinking about it and one other person who knows that I trust is someone else who can testify that I'm ill," Remus said. James had only been listening to a little bit of the conversation but then ignored them completely when he saw Snape sulking outside the door to Flourish and Blotts. The shop that Lily had just gone into.

"What's he doing?" James asked as he saw Snape looking around suspiciously.

"Looks like a stalker doesn't he?" Sirius smirked.

"I thought you didn't care about what Lily did anymore?" Peter said. They were all waiting for James to finish his half melted ice cream.

"I don't, as a matter of fact, I too have a new girlfriend," James said with a smile.

"Who?" Remus asked,

"You know Sarah Parton?" James asked.

"Prongs, are you sure it's a good idea to go out with another Gryffindor?" Remus asked.

"And Lily's roomie, of all people," Sirius said, "I like it."

"We bumped into each other the other day and one thing led to another," He said. He didn't notice Remus and Sirius exchanging a long look.

"This is going to be interesting," Remus said. James played with his ice cream then left it. It wasn't worth eating any more. They got up and made their way to Flourish and Blotts to get the last of their school supplies. As they crossed Diagon Alley a young wizard ran down the road waving some newspapers in the air.

"Oh, Prophet," Sirius said. He handed the wizard a coin and took a paper. The front page had a huge picture of a burning house with the Dark Mark hovering above it. Underneath was a headline saying something about the Crawley family. They opened it up on the obituaries and scanned for names they recognised.

"Looks like Samuel Crawley was murdered," Sirius Black said darkly, "That's one of your competitors out of the running to Lily." All four of them stood in the middle of the road staring at the paper. James couldn't take his eyes off the picture of Samuel Crawley's house. Jenna Crawley had been a friend of his and he had gone on a few dates with her to Hogsmeade before. She never did anything to offend anyone. Why was it her that was attacked? Why not someone who deserved it like Snape maybe. No, Snape didn't deserve to die. He may be a slimy little Slytherin but he still didn't deserve to die. James thought back to the train attack and the number of people who had died around him.

"James," Sirius said as he shook James' shoulder.

"What?" James asked as he turned to look at Sirius.

"Come on, we best get out of here as quickly as possible." James nodded in agreement. They finished off their shopping and hurried back to their homes.

* * *

Lily felt someone bump into her as she waved for Hiba's attention. She turned to see Avery, Mulciber and Severus. Avery was snickering as Mulciber muttered 'Mudblood' at her. Lily glared after them and pulled her bag into a more secure position on her arm.

"Wasn't that Severus?" Lily's mother asked. Lily grumbled and lifted her cat basket up so she could gaze at Muffin. She glanced around to see Severus looking away from her suddenly. She tucked Muffin's basket under her arm and kissed her parents goodbye. She climbed onto the Hogwarts Express and met up with Hiba in the middle of the carriage.

"How's the little baby?" Hiba said as she wiggled her fingers at Muffin. Muffin nipped playfully at her and pounced around in her basket. Hiba laughed and led them into a compartment with two young teenagers in it. They seemed to cower in fear when Lily and Hiba entered the compartment.

"First years," Hiba whispered. Lily nodded. Hiba turned to the First years with a stern look, "What are you doing in our compartment?" She asked as she crossed her arms. Lily rolled her eyes and put her things down on a seat.

"W-w-w-w-" One of them stammered. Hiba grinned and started laughing.

"Hiba," Lily said as she pushed her friend into a seat, "Ignore her, she's just trying to scare you." It looked as though she had succeeded as the two first years went pale and trembled in the corner.

"I love scaring first years," Hiba said dreamily.

"You're as bad as Sirius Black," Lily said.

"It just means that we were made for each other," Hiba said with a grin. Lily rolled her eyes again.

"Do you mind if I let my cat out?" She asked the first years. They shook their heads quickly, "I'm Lily Evans," Lily said, "And this is Hiba Qazi. I'm a prefect for Gryffindor so if there's anything you want help with just ask me," She said with a smile.

"I'm Gerry," said the boy that seemed to relax when Lily introduced herself, "This is my twin sister, Carol. You can let your cat out if you want."

"Thanks," Lily said. She opened the basket and Muffin tumbled out. Carol let out a small laugh as Muffin got tangled in her own tail. Lily laughed and picked up Muffin. Muffin mewed at her then tried to touch her nose with her paw. She handed Muffin to Hiba.

"You have to get to the Prefect's compartment," Hiba said, "I'll look after Muffin,"

"Thanks," Lily said, "I'll see you guys later," She winked at the first years and darted off down the train. She had forgotten about Snape and his gang when she was tripped over as she passed their compartment. Avery and Mulciber burst out laughing while Severus sulked in the corner of the compartment. Lily glared at them but then ignored them. She decided to just pretend that it didn't irritate her. It was only to be expected now that she didn't have Severus' protection. She ran her fingers through her hair and continued down the carriage. When she entered the prefect's compartment she saw the list of prefects on the wall. She went over and smiled when she saw Mo's name next to 'Head Boy'. She then looked at the Gryffindor prefects list. She saw her name and then she paused. Where was Remus' name? There must have been a mistake. Dumbledore couldn't have made him a prefect! Not-

"James Potter, Prefect Extraordinaire!" He said as he burst into the room. He was already dressed in his robes, they were billowing out behind him and his hands were on his hips. In the hallway behind him Lily saw Sirius Black with his wand out laughing.

"You have got to be kidding me," Lily groaned.

"No, my darling Lily. I, James Potter, am your partner in crime," Potter said. He stretched lazily and sat down on a comfy seat. He waved to his friends and Lily slammed the door shut.

"You stole that badge from Remus," Lily said.

"Nope," Potter said with a cocky smile, "It's mine, it was given to me by Dumbledore himself,"

"You don't know him personally," Lily said as she put her hands on her hips.

"Of course I do! He's friends with my dad isn't he?" Potter said, "I could tell you thinks about him that would make you tremble." Potter leant towards Lily for effect. Lily was about to retort when Mo came in with the Ravenclaw prefects.

"Lily," He said with a smile. Lily grinned and greeted him with a deep kiss. When they broke their kiss Mo was grinning broadly.

"Get a room you two," Potter said as he winked at a Hufflepuff girl.

"Jealous Potter?" Mo asked as he put his arm around Lily's waist.

"Please, I'm over Evans," Potter said as he stood up. Lily felt strangely hurt by that remark. Potter had said it so casually that it seemed almost fake but there was something about the way he held himself that made Lily believe him, "Red heads aren't my thing anyway," He said with a smile. Mo shrugged and gave Lily another kiss. Lily scowled and sat down with Mo as they waited for the rest of the prefects turn up. Lily tried to pay attention to Mo as he asked about Muffin and Lily's family. Lily replied to each question as best she could but she still couldn't believe that Potter was a prefect instead of Remus. What had happened? Potter seemed as cocky as he had been the previous year and just as arrogant.

"Right, now that we're all here I'd like to introduce myself and the Head Girl. I'm Mo and this is Charlee," Mo said as he waved towards a snobbish looking Slytherin girl who held herself like she was royalty. Charlee Kings flicked her black hair behind her shoulder and gave everyone a smile. Lily knew her and actually liked her. She wasn't like most Slytherins. Where everyone else of her house focused on bullying the other houses and muggle borns, Charlee concentrated on her studies. She had the prejudice views against muggle borns but she was less obvious about it.

"A Slytherin Head Girl?" a Ravenclaw said in disdain, "What is Dumbledore thinking?"

"Charlee's a nice girl," Lily retorted.

"Thank's Evans," Charlee said, "but I don't need anyone to defend me,"

"Either way," Mo said, "We've been talking and we've decided to crack down on Muggle Bullying,"

"You agreed to that?" James said to Charlee.

"Oh, what a surprise, A Slytherin who disagrees with her house attitude," Charlee said, "You know Slughorn was a Slytherin and he's alright,"

"Well-" James paused for effect and stretched out.

"So cracking down on Bullying," Mo said, trying to wrap up the meeting. He clapped his hands and indicated that the meeting was over. Lily looked up at him and smiled. He turned to smile back at her.

"So what are the rules?" James asked when he saw the look that passed between them.

"You know them," Mo said. Lily stood up and offered Mo her hand. She didn't notice the smug look on his face as he led her from the prefect's carriage. They made their way through the train to where Hiba was looking after Muffin. As they passed a carriage of Slytherins Lily saw Mulciber leering at her but ignored him.

"We'll get you this year Mudblood!" He shouted after her. Lily's grip on Mo's hand tightened. He pulled her towards him and put his arm around her. When they entered the compartment Mary had joined Hiba. The first years still sat cowered in the corner of the compartment though Carol watched Muffin play with a small ball.

"You'll never guess what?" Lily said as she sat down with Mo.

"What?" Hiba asked.

"James Potter is Prefect!" Lily said.

"Really?" Mary asked, "How did he manage that?"

"Remus Lupin begged Dumbledore not to make him a prefect this year," Mo said as he leant back and made himself comfortable.

"Why?" Mary asked.

"Too much stress or something," Mo said, "It's a reasonable decision if you think about it. Can you imagine anyone else in your house being the prefect besides Lupin?" Lily fazed out of the conversation as she thought about Remus again. Too much stress? Could it be because of his secret? If he was a werewolf he would be under an enormous amount of stress already. The more Lily thought about it the more she was amazed that Dumbledore made him a prefect. Lily frowned slightly and excused herself from the compartment.

* * *

"He's such an arrogant twit," James said as he ranted about Lily's new boyfriend. Remus gave him a sceptical look.

"You know you're exactly like that when you're with a girl," Remus said. "The same look, the same arrogance and pride." James looked at Remus like he was lying.

"I'm not like that," James said, "I'm much more subtle about it," Sirius and Remus burst out laughing. James scowled at them but was saved from telling them off. There was a knock on the door and Lily Evans stood in the doorway.

"Miss Evans, what may we do for you today?" Sirius asked her.

"Can I talk to Remus alone?" She asked.

"Anything you want to talk to him about you can say in front of us," James said, "Isn't that right Moony?" Remus gave Lily shrug and moved over on the seat. Lily looked uncomfortable as she closed the door and sat next to Remus.

"I wanted to ask you something, about why you're ill on the full moon," Lily said seriously. James tensed, as did all the other boys.

"What do you know about it?" Remus asked casually. James looked at Remus. He had said he was alright with Lily knowing but he didn't think he'd meant it.

"Well, Severus has been talking about it to me almost non-stop since fourth year. We figured it out quite early on but I didn't really want to believe it until the thing with him and those two," She said, nodding to James and Sirius. James knew what she was referring to.

"I saved his life," James said defensively.

"I know but it sort of confirmed some stuff for me," She looked back at Remus, "You're a werewolf aren't you?" she asked. Remus gave an embarrassed smile. "I won't tell anyone, I promise,"

"I didn't think you would," Remus said, "Does anyone else know?"

"No, I never told anyone and Severus only ever told me," Lily replied. Remus nodded and looked at Lily as if he was expecting her to be repulsed by it.

"You aren't scared?" Peter asked.

"No, why should I?" Lily asked, "Is that why you gave up being a Prefect?"

"Yeah," Remus said, "I was hoping that I could melt away again. It's too noticeable for a prefect to go missing every full moon."

"But surely it'll make people less inclined to think you're a werewolf, and even if they do discover what you really are then they'll -"

"No Lily," Sirius said, "No one is like that. Remus' old girlfriend found out what he really was and she bolted from him. She won't even look at him," Lily looked at Sirius.

"Fortunately she hasn't told anyone what he is," James said, "If she does and people start to avoid Moony then," James felt angry just thinking about it. Remus' ex's reaction and shocked them all. They had all thought she was alright but she turned out to be just like everyone else. "No one can know what Moony is or he'll be an exile for the rest of his life," James said so seriously that it caused Lily to look right at him. He looked back at her and thought he saw some admiration in her expression.

"I'm guessing that Moony is your nickname because of the moon then?" Lily asked. Remus nodded, "What about Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail,"

"They're just nicknames," Remus said a tiny bit too quickly. Most people wouldn't have noticed but Lily did. She kept quiet but James saw the curiosity come alive within her. She turned to Remus and smiled.

"Thanks," She said.

"For what?" Remus asked.

"For trusting me enough," she said. She gave him a hug and a friendly kiss on the cheek. Remus blushed but he looked at Lily with new found respect. James also was impressed with Lily's reaction. She seemed not to care. He decided in that instant he would get Lily Evans and he would marry her. So what if she had a new boyfriend. He would win her over this year! "I just wished you told me last year so I could have helped you out," Remus looked away at this point.

"Sorry about that," Remus said.

"Don't worry. I'll see you later," Lily said. She waved to the boys and gave a quick smile to James. James' eyebrows shot up beyond his hairline as she did so. Lily Evans gave him a smile! James burst out into a grin despite himself. He looked at his friends and they were all smiling. Remus was still blushing.

"She kissed my cheek after she found out what I was," Remus said in surprise.

"She's mine!" James said quickly.

"I want her now! If that's how she reacts to his secret then I want her!" Sirius said.

"What if-"

"NO MOONY!" both Sirius and James shouted playfully. Remus grinned and they all started laughing.

"I'm just happy being her friend," Sirius said, "She kissed Moony, maybe if I'm nice enough she'll reward me like that," Sirius slouched back happily. James smiled to himself and thought Lily.

"I'm glad she's alright about it," Remus said a little while later.

"Yeah," James said, "I'm going on patrol." The boys nodded and James left the compartment. He had his wand at the ready and made his way through the train. He came to the end of the train when he came across a compartment with just two people in it. He peered through the window curiously and looked at the couple, who were in a fairly intimate kiss. James started to grin until he caught sight of who the girl was. He felt a surge of anger welling up inside of him. The thing that got him was Mo trying to move his hand to Lily's chest. That was it and he wrenched the door open.

"Get off her!" He shouted at Mo as he withdrew his wand.

"What?" Mo asked as he broke the kiss.

"Potter!" Lily snapped, "What are you doing here?" She sat up properly as Mo moved off her.

"He was-" James was so angry that he couldn't speak.

"She's my girlfriend," Mo said as he stood up to face James. James looked at Mo fiercely, "You are jealous," Mo sneered. James clenched his fist and hit Mo. Magic wouldn't have been satisfying enough. He hit Mo again and ducked when Mo tried to retaliate. James was glad that he was just that little bit faster then Mo. He didn't even notice Lily as she tried to break up the fight but before she could cast a charm her wand was knocked out of her hands by the fighting boys.

"Stop it!" Lily shouted at them. James tried to hit Mo again but Mo got him in the chin just before James got the Ravenclaw. He fell through the glass door and into the corridor outside.

"Leave it Potter," Mo said as he stood in the doorway. James felt the anger surge through him again as Lily put a hand on Mo's arm. He stood up and ran for Mo again.

* * *

"I don't expect this behaviour from third years, let alone prefects!" McGonagall said as she told off Lily, Mo and James. They had been pulled aside from the others as they were entering the feast, "And over a girl!" McGonagall said, she glanced at Lily briefly.

"We're very disappointed in you," Professor Flitwick chipped in, "You are supposed to set an example," Professor Flitwick didn't sound as harsh as McGonagall.

"Miss Evans, I cannot believe that you failed to stop it," McGonagall said rounding on Lily. Lily couldn't look at her head of house.

"I'm sorry Professor," She said. She had never been in trouble with her teachers before and she didn't like it. All because her boyfriend and James Potter decided to have a testosterone match in front of a whole carriage of students.

"It wasn't her fault-"

"Be quiet Potter. I was against you becoming a prefect in the first place. Don't give me another reason for taking away that badge and giving it to Black," McGonagall said, "You will all be attending detention for the next two weeks, you will be suspended from prefect duties and Potter, Ashrag,"

"Yes Professor,"

"You will also be suspended from all quidditch duties for two weeks."

"But we have try outs-" they both started saying at the same time.

"You should have thought about that before you started fighting," McGonagall said, "Now leave and keep your emotions under control. If there is another argument over Miss Evans you will both have your prefect badges taken away from you!" Lily couldn't look at either boy as she left the office. She was so angry that she'd been called into McGonagall's office to be told off. James Potter ran after her and took her arm.

"You idiot!" Lily snapped at him before he could say anything, "I have a perfect record until you went and did that! Now I'm suspended from being a prefect!"

"I didn't think th-"

"No, you didn't think Potter, that's your problem. You never think do you? You ever wondered why I never went out with you? It's because of that! You don't think, you think everyone loves you as you are, well here's the thing Potter. You're not perfect. Don't ruin my life just because you were denied a single thing, like a girl," She snapped at him. She stormed off through the corridors and went straight up to her dorm room instead of eating in the great hall. She knew that Hiba would bring her some food.

* * *

**A/N:-Please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: sorry for the delay. I don't have the internet at my new house and whenever I've come home and try to upload this chapter I haven't been able to. This is the first time in weeks I've successfully managed to upload something on Annoying! Anyway, usual stuff. Any reviews are welcome (good or bad).**

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**Chapter 6**

Lily woke up with Muffin snuggled in her arms. She cuddled the tiny cat and just stared at the hangings. The thought that she'd been suspended from being a prefect still haunted her mind like a pesky ghost. Lily knew it shouldn't bother her so much but she was proud to be a prefect and proud to have a perfect record, consistently high grades and above all, no detentions. She got out of bed and went about her usual routine at Hogwarts, which she slipped back into with ease. She didn't wait up for Hiba or Mary and just went down to the Great Hall alone. As she looked up at the ceiling of the Great Hall the raindrops fell but disappeared a few feet above Lily's head.

"Hi Lily," said Mo from behind her as he caught up. Lily gave a brief smile and sat down at the Gryffindor table, "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday," He said as he took her hand.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lily said.

"It's really not that bad, only two weeks," Mo said hoping to cheer her up. Lily put a piece of toast on her plate and absently mixed the jam with her knife. Mo sighed and sat next to her. Lily didn't particularly feel like seeing Mo at the moment. She considered half the blame to be on Mo. He didn't have to keep fighting or even encourage Potter.

"Come on Lily," Mo said with a smile, "Cheer up, first day of school," He put his arm around Lily's shoulder. She shrugged it off and started putting jam on her toast.

"I'm not in a good mood Mo, just leave me alone for a while," Lily said. Mo scowled but nodded.

"Alright, see you at lunch?" He asked Lily. Lily shrugged. He leant in to kiss her but they were stopped by McGonagall standing behind them holding a pile of timetables.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Ashrag," She said, "I believe you are at the wrong table Mr. Ashrag,"

"Sorry Professor," Mo said as he got up, "See you at lunch," He said to Lily. Lily didn't respond.

"Your Timetable Miss Evans," McGonagall said, putting her timetable down in front of her.

"Thank you Professor," Lily said. Instead of moving on McGonagall paused for a moment.

"It's only two weeks, Lily," She said almost kindly, "I look forward to teaching you again this year," Lily turned to look at her teacher and smiled.

"Thank you Professor," She said. McGonagall gave her a nod and continued down the table. Lily felt slightly better as McGonagall spoke to her. Knowing that McGonagall felt some regret for suspending Lily as well made her feel better.

"Hey Lily," Hiba said a little sleepily. She sat down next to Lily and yawned, "I heard why you missed the feast. Are you alright?"

"Not really but I'll survive," Lily said, "I survived a Death Eater attack didn't I?"

"This is completely different though," Hiba said seriously. She forked a hash brown, "This is academic. You-Know-Who is like, life or death, academic is emotional…well it is for people like us," Lily couldn't help smiling at Hiba.

"Well, I'm surviving. I just need to spend the day away from Mo and Potter and I'll feel much better." Hiba looked at her own timetable.

"Good luck with that," Hiba said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Lily asked

"Potter is in all our classes today. Transfiguration, Potions and Charms. He's doing practically all the same subjects as us," Hiba said. Lily let out a groan and put her head in her hands.

"Hi Lily," said Peter as he sat down opposite them. For once he was on his own in the castle. He rarely left Potter's side, "Oh! Black Pudding!"

"Where are your significant others?" Lily asked as she watched Peter put Black Pudding on his plate. That was then joined by a considerable portion of bacon, eggs and sausages.

"Moony if fill forting out hif bag, Pronf if fulking and Padfoot if trying to cheer him up. I faw him in the common room and I haf to fay fat I fink Sarah is doing a much better job of it then Padfoot is," Peter said between a succession of full mouths and empty mouths.

"Sarah?" Lily asked. She looked at Hiba.

"Yeah, Prongs is going out with her," Peter said, "You want some pumpkin juice?"

"Alright," Lily said, "What classes are you in this year?" She asked Peter.

"Um, Transfiguration, Herbology, Muggle Studies, Defense against the Dark Arts and I scraped a pass in Potions so I'm taking that as well,"

"We'll be going to Transfiguration together then," Hiba said with a smile, "Are you good at it?"

"Transfiguration is one of my best subjects," Peter said.

"Really?" Lily asked, "Hm, I thought it was Muggle Studies,"

"Everyone thinks that," Peter said, turning slightly red, "I was as surprised as everyone when I got an E in Transfiguration,"

"That's really good Peter," Lily said. She was pleased for Peter. He wasn't as good a wizard as James Potter but he still did extremely well. Last year's Transfiguration exam was harder then usual. They finished off their breakfast as the rest of the Gryffindors made their way down to the Great Hall. Lily and Hiba were just leaving as they passed them. They gave Sirius, Remus and Mary a wave, which was returned. Lily saw James Potter with his hand in Sarah's though it looked as though he didn't really want to be with her. He looked at Lily as he passed her but turned away. Lily was faintly surprised by his behaviour but shrugged it off as guilt for getting her suspended.

* * *

"Hagrid!" Sirius said loudly as they went to visit the old Game Keeper. He was sitting outside sorting through what looked like Giant worms and was humming himself despite the pouring rain. Sirius and James both held their bags over their heads to keep the rain off them.

"Sirius, James," He said happily when he saw them, "'Ow was yer holiday?"

"Oh you know, the usual," Sirius said.

"Good then," Hagrid said, "I cooked some fresh cauldron cakes! You want to come in?"

"Love to!" Sirius said. James just followed him as they walked into the hut. James and Sirius sat down while Hagrid put another log onto the fire. James should have felt happy but he kept thinking about Lily. He felt so guilty about getting Lily punished because of something that she had even taken part in. He couldn't bear to look at her without feeling another pang of guilt so he had dragged Sirius down to Hagrid's instead of eating in the hall. Fang sat in the corner. Hagrid had only gotten the dog the previous year but it was already huge!

"How was your holiday?" Sirius asked Hagrid. Hagrid placed a huge plate of Cauldron cakes down on the table. James took one and bit into it. He instantly regretted it as he felt his teeth protest. He hadn't been thinking properly. He looked at the cauldron cake and just held it in his hands.

"It's been good. A few more baby unicorns but other then that nothing new really," Hagrid said. "The Centaurs are getting a bit riled up though because of something in the future but who knows when that will happen. So what happened in your holiday to make it so good?" Hagrid asked. He put down three giant cups down on the table. As Sirius told Hagrid what had happened that holiday, James just sat down and thought about Lily some more. It was all that was on his mind at the moment. All through Transfiguration Sirius had tried to get his mind on something else. Quidditch, the full moon, Snivellus, anything but nothing took his mind off Lily. Nothing worked, especially as she was sitting two rows in front of James.

"You ever wondered why I never went out with you? It's because of that! You don't think," She had said. James sighed and thought over it. He never thought? Of course he did. Yes, sometimes he let his emotions get the better of him, like on the train but could he really be blamed. The train was a one off really. He couldn't help it if he loved Lily. Seeing her kissing Mo was like seeing his own girlfriend cheating on him. He hated it. He wanted to get over her but at the same time he didn't want to. He felt like hitting something.

"You're awfully quiet, James," Hagrid said.

"He's having girl problems," Sirius said.

"Really? But you haven't had a girlfriend in a year or so," Hagrid said. He took a bite out of a cauldron cake. Both Sirius and James winced as he did so.

"I do now, but I don't want to date her," James said.

"Who's your girlfriend?" Hagrid asked him.

"Sarah Parton, she's a gryffindor," James said

"Not Lily Evans then?" Hagrid asked.

"She's dating the head boy," Sirius said, "Hey, Hagrid, would you mind if we took some of your cauldron cakes?"

"Help yourself," Hagrid said to Sirius.

"Thanks!" Sirius said. He began filling up his bag with the cauldron cakes. James watched him, "I'll explain later,"

"How's Remus?" Hagrid asked them.

"He's alright. He's given up being prefect because of the stress of being what he is," James said.

"Dumbledore told me," Hagrid said.

"Nice to know that teachers discuss us," Sirius said. He grabbed a handful of crumbs and put them into a small plastic bag he had. They kept talking for a few more moment before they heard the bell ringing.

"Time to go," Hagrid said "Off yeh go," James and Sirius left. James started shivering almost instantly when he went out into the rain.

"Why did you want the cauldron cakes?" James asked.

"Well, I was thinking, Slytherins, owls and exploding cauldron cakes," Sirius explained. James smiled slightly. They slid up the hill to the school and ran into the cover. James and Sirius dried themselves with magic and made their way to potions. They turned the corner and heard some jeering. James and Sirius looked at each other before they ran after the noise. They turned the corner to see Lily and Mary being bullied by at least ten Slytherins. Hiba was trying to help but Avery held her arms behind her to stop her from helping. Lily got out her wand and pointed it at Mulciber and Snape.

"Ooo, it's a scawy mudblood," Mulciber jeered. James noticed that Snape was the only one who wasn't making fun of Lily with her wand out.

"What are you going to do, Mudblood?" another Slytherin jeered. A sudden shower of flames burst out of Lily's wand but they fizzled away before they hit the Sytherins. The Slytherin's were all cowering against the wall at this point

"Stay away from me," Lily said to them.

"Hey, Evans," Sirius said as he sauntered over, "What mess have you got yourself into this time?" Lily looked as though she could kill him. All the Slytherins got their wands out and trained them on the Gyffindors

"I can handle this myself, Black," She said.

"Potter and Black here to save the day," Mulciber said. Sirius and James went to the Slytherins and pushed them away from Lily and Mary. Sirius went to Avery and punched him. As Avery shouted in pain he let go of Hiba and clutched his nose. Sirius pulled Hiba towards him and pulled her protectively behind him. Someone fired a curse but a quick flick of Lily's wand saw it deflected into the ceiling.

"Three blood traitors and two Mudbloods, it really is our lucky day," Mulciber said.

"Stand down Mulciber, you know that we can take you,"

"It seems to be at least two on one," Mulciber said with a smile.

"We'll still beat you," Sirius said as he kept hold of Hiba behind his back. Mulciber fired a curse at them but Lily interceded before James could even respond. She flicked her wrist again and the curse burst into what looked like a black tarry substance on the wall. She stood next to James with her wand out. James couldn't help glancing at her.

"Leave it for the Quidditch pitch," She said.

"Too scared to fight?" Mulciber laughed. Around him all the Slytherins laughed except Snape. He held onto Mulciber's arm and pulled him back slightly.

"Lets just leave it," He whispered.

"No," Mulciber said, "She's the only Mudblood in the school who doesn't seem to understand why she's not wanted here."

"I understand perfectly well," Lily said. She nudged James with her arm as she spoke. He looked at her. She looked at him briefly and gave him a nod. What was she trying to tell him, "However, I am much better then you and I wont fight you," Lily said. James looked at Lily again. Lily raised her wand so it pointed the ceiling and then put it away. Mulciber shouted a curse, which Lily let James reflect. It bounced off his shield and hit Avery, who was trying to control a bloody nose. The Slytherin's took their cue and a few sent curses at the Gryffindors. James blocked and reflected then disarmed. He loved it. The feeling that he was protecting someone and hurting Slytherins. Several of them tried to hit Lily with curses but she had drawn her wand again and simply put up shield charms that protected her and Mary. One particular curse knocked the girls to the floor but fortunately hadn't broken the shield. As James jinxed Snape with a huge amount of satisfaction he saw Lily and Mary letting off a few jinxes as well. James felt the adrenaline rush through his blood and all too soon it was stopped by Professor Slughorn striding down the corridor.

"What's this?" Slughorn demanded.

"They started it sir," Mulciber said pointing at James and Lily. James offered Lily his hand and pulled her to her feet. He noticed her wince as she stood up. He was concerned but he thought nothing of it for the moment. She brushed off her skirt while he helped Mary up as well.

"What!" Sirius snapped, "You were attacking the girls! You had Hiba in an arm lock you spineless cowardly pieces of sh-"

"That's quite enough Black!" Slughorn said as he held up his hand, "Slytherins to my office now. Gryffindors, to McGonagall's office." Slughorn crossed his arms. As the Slytherins left someone muttered Mudblood. Lily started to move to possibly punch them but James put his arms around her to hold her back.

"Lily," He said sternly as he pulled her away. Lily pushed him away and picked up her bag.

"The lesson for today is cancelled," Slughorn added once half the Slytherins were out of sight. James looked at Sirius and Hiba. Hiba was smiling at Sirius as Sirius seemed to make a bit of fuss over her. Mary looked as though she was used to this and Lily just looked annoyed. She flicked her hair back slightly and shouldered her bag.

"Are you alright?" James asked as he sidled up next to her.

"Not really, I would have been fine if you hadn't shown up," Lily said. James was about to say something to protest but stopped when Lily started to speak again, "But thanks anyway," She said. James smiled and despite himself, put his hand on Lily's back. She looked at him.

"I'm moving away," James said putting his hands in the air when he saw Lily's look.

"Good," She said.

"How did you guys get into such a sticky situation?" Sirius asked from in front.

"They jumped us," Mary said, "They knew we were taking potions, and obviously Snape is taking it too. He must have told them when our lesson was." James looked at Lily when Snape was mentioned. She gave a slight grimace as though the thought pained her. James wanted to hold her in his arms, why wasn't Mo here being the boyfriend that he should be?

"I could kill that snake!" Sirius said as he made a choking action with his hands. They came to the main staircase and in the better light James saw a small cut on Mary's cheek and a slight bruise forming on Hiba's cheek. He looked at Lily but she looked fine despite a few winces.

"What happened before we arrived?" James asked as he watched Lily.

"Nothing," Lily said, "Lets just get to McGonagall's office," Mary and Hiba turned to look at her.

"What if-"

"I'm fine," Lily said. James stopped and put his hand on Lily's arm.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"My leg hurts a bit," Lily said. James glanced down at Lily's leg. Only now did he notice that her knee appeared to be quite badly swollen.

"What happened?" James asked as he looked back at her.

"Dislocated knee, I fixed it though," Lily said, "I'll see Mad-"

"Tell McGonagall where we are," James said to Sirius, Hiba and Mary. They nodded and James picked up Lily in his arms and started in a different direction.

"Potter, put me down!" Lily said as she tried to struggle but James held her tightly.

"No, I'm taking you to the hospital wing whether you want to or not. You can struggle but it'll only make your leg worse," James said. Lily seemed to realise that James wasn't going to let her down so she crossed her arms and lay in his arms as he carried her up the stairs.

* * *

"You shouldn't have tried to heal yourself," Madam Pomfrey said, "It's gone back in sloppily, how did this happen?" She asked. Lily felt like being stubborn. She felt that her leg would have been fine if Potter hadn't interfered. Yes, her leg was screaming at her and it was probably a good thing that Potter had interfered but now the entire school seemed to know what had happened. Lily had figured that out by the students peering into the hospital wing as they passed. Madame Pomfrey poked her leg gently and Lily grit her teeth together.

"Miss Evans, now is not the time to be stubborn," McGonagall said as she stood over Lily. Lily looked at her and then glanced at Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked more serious then she'd ever seen him look before.

"Miss Evans," He said gently, "What happened?"

"We were going to potions and we were jumped," She said.

"Yes, Miss. Qazi and Miss. McDonald told us that," Dumbledore said, "But how did you get hurt?" Lily tried to look away from Dumbledore but he seemed to capture her eyes.

"Snape hit me with a curse," Lily said as she felt tears coming to her eyes. She blinked a few times to try and stop the tears, "His friends all grabbed Hiba and Mary. One of them hit Hiba with the back of his hand, another threw Mary into the wall with magic and Snape-" Lily stopped. Snape attacking her had hurt her deeply. She had tried to suppress any feelings for Snape but just the mere fact that he had been her best friend…she couldn't stop the tears from falling from her eyes. Dumbledore's expression softened as Lily wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Dumbledore produced a handkerchief and put his hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Attacks like this will not be tolerated in my school. I would like to see the Slytherins involved in my office, Minerva," Dumbledore said. McGonagall nodded and looked at Lily.

"What about Evans?" McGonagall asked.

"She's been hurt deeply. Let her decide what she wants to do," Dumbledore said. Lily tried to smile gratefully but she didn't succeed. McGonagall nodded and left with Dumbledore.

"If you just stretch out your leg for me," Madame Pomfrey said. Lily tried to straighten her leg and the healer tapped her knee with her wand. With a sudden surge of pain Lily's leg was fixed, "Whatever Snape did to you he shattered your knee cap, which is why, despite your healing, it was still painful. It's back together now and you'll be able to leave tomorrow,"

"Thank you," Lily said between sobs. Madame Pomfrey gave her a smile and went to get her a drink. Lily lay down in the bed and curled up in a ball. She must have stayed like that for a while or fallen asleep because when she woke up it was dark and the hot chocolate that Madame Pomfrey had gotten her had gone cold. Lily stared at the mug and thought about Severus…Snape. Lily's forehead creased as she realised that without her Snape had gone to the Dark Lord's side. He'd embraced it and now he was hurting her. It was true that even best friends could turn on each other. Already Lily had lost her best friend to You-Know-Who. The battle had never truly affected her until this summer. People who followed Him really didn't feel. Even at school.

Lily started sobbing again, this time mourning the true loss of her friend. She buried her face in the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Lily," came a soft voice that she knew all too well. Lily sat up and stared at James Potter. She quickly wiped her eyes and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. She tried to be angry with him but it wasn't working.

"I wanted to see how you were," Potter said softly. He looked around and when he saw that Madame Pomfrey wasn't going to catch him he pulled a chair over to Lily's bed.

"Why do you care?" Lily asked.

"You know why," Potter said, "Here, I got this for you," He took something out of his robes and handed it to her. It was three bars of Honeydukes best honey chocolate. They were Lily's favourite but she could only afford to buy one bar once in a while. Lily looked at Potter in shock.

"I can't-"

"Take it Lily, it'll make you feel better," he said with a smile that, for once, lacked all his cockiness and arrogance. James shrugged and slouched slightly, "Every time I see you in Honeydukes I see you eyeing up the chocolate but I've only see you buy it twice since we started at Hogwarts. I figured it must be too expensive, so I bought you a few bars. When you've finished just tell me and I'll get you some more," He said. Lily smiled and shuffled down the bed. She couldn't believe she was about to do this but she felt like it. She leant forwards and hugged Potter.

"Thank you," She said. Potter smiled and put his arms around her.

"It's alright," he said as Lily closed her eyes. Potter was nice to hug. He still had his uniform on so his shoulder was nice to lean on. When Lily finally let go of him and lay back down in bed Potter sat down and smiled at her but again, it wasn't one of his usual smiles. Lily opened one of the chocolates as Potter leant forwards.

"So, has Mo come to visit you?"

"He came by until Dumbledore told him to go away. I'm not sure about after that because I've been sleeping," Lily said. She popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth. She relished the wonderful chocolate melting in her mouth. After a few moments she tasted the honey in the chocolate. A wonderful combination that always cheered her up.

"I noticed," Potter said.

"How did you get in?" Lily asked. Potter lifted his hand. He was holding a silvery cloak. Lily dropped the chocolate and stared at it. "Is that an-"

"Yep," Potter said, "I got it from my father, and he got it from his mother," Potter said as he tried to recall how it came to him.

"But…invisibility cloaks loose their effectiveness after a few years. How long have you had it?" Lily asked.

"Since I started Hogwarts," Potter said as he played with the material, "Only the Marauders know about it though," Potter passed the cloak to Lily. "So you want to go to Hogsmeade or anything? Get out of here?" James sounded hopeful that she would agree. Lily shook her head.

"I can't," Lily said. She pointed at her knee, which was still slightly red, "and I have a boyfriend Potter,"

"Ditch him. I don't see him sneaking around to be with you," Potter said. Lily felt almost a twinge of compassion for Potter at that moment.

"He's a good person, Potter. I like him," Potter nodded.

"Alright," he said, "We'll stay here then." He put the cloak on his lap and got ready for a night sitting at Lily's side. She smiled hesitantly and offered him some chocolate.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

James started in surprise as he woke up. He looked around and saw Lily sleeping in the bed that he had been resting his head on. He looked around quickly and saw the windows slowly filling with light. He looked at Lily and found her fast asleep. The boxes of Chocolate that he'd bought her lay on the bedside table. He looked at Lily with a smile and reached up to touch her face. It was so soft. He brushed some hair away from her face then lifted the blanket over her so it covered her properly. He glanced at his watch and saw it was nearly six. He reached up and gently kissed her forehead. She stirred but didn't wake. James pulled the cloak back around him and left the hospital wing. He arrived back in the Gryffindor tower and made his way up the stairs. He tiptoed into his room as silently as he could but when he closed the door Sirius woke up.

"James?" He asked as he poked his head out through his hangings. James took off the cloak and gave him a wave, "Where have you been?" He asked, noting James' uniform.

"I went to visit Lily," He said.

"That was at like, midnight," Sirius said, "Have you just got back?" James nodded. Sirius grinned broadly at him.

"Nothing happened though," James said quickly, "I didn't want to have an argument with her again so I just sat down and let her talk."

"Find out anything interesting?" Sirius asked. James thought back on the night. They had talked but it was mostly about school. Lily hadn't revealed much about her personal life or her home life. Any questions about Mo have been turned against James and anything about her family was largely ignored

"No, nothing actually," James said with a frown, "She's good at avoiding personal questions." He sat down on the bed and threw his cloak into his trunk

"Did she like the chocolate?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, turns out it's her favourite," James said as he unbuttoned his shirt. He decided to change into his spare change of uniform.

"You guys awake already!" yawned Peter from his bed.

"PETER!" Sirius shouted. Peter gave a shout of surprise and fell out the side of his bed. Sirius and James laughed while Remus cursed sleepily from his bed.

"Sirius!" He snapped after five minutes of swearing. Sirius dived through the hangings and Remus jumped out of the other side. "What the hell!" He scrambled to his feet. Padfoot came out and jumped around the room.

"What's going on?" Peter asked sleepily.

"James and Lily are going to get together!" Sirius said. Instantly Peter and Remus burst out into grins.

"We're not," James said, "We just get along, I hope, as long as no one does anything stupid," He pulled on a fresh shirt.

"But you spent a whole night together, you have to tell me something happened!" Sirius said as he sat on his bed. Remus and Peter looked intrigued.

"A night?" Peter asked.

"Nothing happened and don't you dare mention this to anyone, especially Lily," James said. He pointed at them all and while Remus and Peter promised not to tell anyone Sirius spent a bit longer to decide. As Sirius took his time James got worried.

"Alright," Sirius said with a grin. James finished getting changed and made his way back to the Hospital wing with fresh clothes on and a Sirius Black in tow. James tried to press his hair flat as he came to the door. They peered into the room and saw Lily sitting in the bed in a clean uniform. James took in a sharp breath as Lily beamed.

"What's she smiling at?" Sirius whispered. James shrugged and took out the Marauder's map from his pocket. He found Lily and another dot saying Mo Ashrag.

"Damn," James muttered. The dots started moving and the couple in the hospital wing came towards the door.

"Quick, behind the statue!" Sirius hissed as the boys hurried behind a statue.

"What time did you say you came to visit me?" Lily asked Mo as they walked by.

"Just after midnight, about two," Mo said, "But you were sleeping, so I went back to the common room," James narrowed his eyes. He was lying. Lily must have known it too because she nodded and gave a sceptical "uh huh,"

"He's lying," James said.

"How do you know?" Sirius asked as he watched Mo take Lily's hand.

"At that point Lily and I were talking about what we wanted to do," James said.

"I thought you said you hadn't found out anything interesting about her," Sirius said as he looked at James.

"Lets get to breakfast," James said. He felt his elation start to fizzle away as Lily and her boyfriend stopped on the corner and kiss.

* * *

Severus stood with his friends in the corner of the courtyard.

"Right, this time we can't screw up. We have to get to them. We can't have Mudbloods like them coming to this school. We'll scare them and anyone else who wants to become a witch or wizard," Mulciber said.

"That's going to be hard. The Blacks never told us how they never managed to get caught. Narcissa Black was the last one," another said.

"You'd think so," Mulciber smiled, "look who's joined us," He pushed forward a boy from a few years below. Severus eyed him up, he reminded him of someone.

"Who's he?" Avery asked.

"Regulus Black," Mulciber said with a grin. The Slytherins all started muttering to themselves. Regulus Black looked like his older brother Sirius without the arrogant smile and the cocky swagger. Severus looked away and saw Lily and her friends sitting on a bench with their heads over a book or a magazine of some kind. Severus felt like a knife had stabbed him in the heart. He hadn't meant to hurt her, the spell was aimed at Mary McDonald but Lily jumped in the way. He had taken the blame for it because he didn't want to admit to trying to get someone else. He and the rest of the Slytherins present had detentions until Christmas and all Hogsmeade privileges stripped from them. The Slytherin house was now bottom at the House league as Dumbledore himself had taken all the points from Slytherin.

"I don't think we should jump anyone else for a while," Severus said suddenly.

"Why not?" Regulus Black asked.

"The teachers are on full alert and the Prefects are patrolling more regularly. Even Charlee is cracking down on us. I don't think she's a true Slytherin," Severus told them.

"Of course she's not. All she cares about is her work. She wants a top ministry job, she cant have her hands stained with detentions," Black said, "We don't have to arrange anything in school, we can get things going outside the school. We know their names, that's all She needs," Severus and the other Slytherins looked at Regulus Black. They all knew who he was talking about. They couldn't say her name out loud outside the Slytherin Common room but Bellatrix Lestrange had become almost a hero to many Slytherins. Mulciber and Avery grinned.

"Just don't target the Evans girl," Severus said.

"Why not?" Severus panicked as he tried to think of a plausible excuse as to why they should spare Lily Evans.

"Let her think she's got off scott free and when all her friends are in mourning and she's worried about the worst for her family then you can hit her," Severus made up.

"Nice!" Mulciber said as he clapped Severus on the back. The Slytherins dispersed and Severus made his way towards the Library. He didn't see Potter and Black following him under Potter's invisibility cloak. Severus made his way into the deepest parts of the library and pulled out his magazine. He turned to a page he'd folded when he was suddenly jerked high in the air. His head hit the ceiling with a crack and he fell down onto the floor. He tried to get up but he felt someone kick him in the mouth.

"Potter and Black!" he said as he spat blood out of his mouth. He felt a blow to the stomach and he was flung into the Library stacks. Severus felt himself hovering between being conscious and being unconscious. Someone grabbed him by the front of his shirt and he felt a wand at his throat. Snape held his breath.

"You even look at her and we'll be on your case. We'll be watching Snape," said a voice he recognised as Potters. Snape let out a breath as he felt the wand going away. The person let him go and Snape fell back against the bookshelf. He was breathing heavily as he got out his wand and tried to heal himself.

* * *

"Hogsmeade this weekend!" Hiba said happily as she jumped over the sofa and landed in Lily's text book.

"I'm not going," Lily said quickly as she fished her book out from under Hiba.

"Why not?" Hiba asked.

"There was an attack in Hogsmeade last week," Mary answered.

"So?" Hiba said.

"It was on a Muggleborn," Mary said.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Hiba asked.

"Attack on a muggle-born three days ago" Lily said without taking her eyes off her homework.

"Attack on another muggle born yesterday," Mary said.

"Twenty attacks in total so far in or around Hogsmeade since term started," Lily said, "I'm not going,"

"Dumbledore wouldn't let us go if he didn't think it was safe!" Hiba said.

"I'm not worried about Death Eaters," Lily said quietly.

"The Slytherins?" Hiba asked quietly. Lily didn't want to admit it but the attack in the dungeons had thrown her confidence. Hiba was about to say something but Mary interrupted her.

"It's alright for you Hiba. I'm used to it but this is the first time Lily's been jumped and it wasn't a very good experience. At least it was gradual for me," Mary said. Hiba opened her mouth but closed it again.

"We'll stay here then," Hiba said.

"No, you should go," Lily said, "I know Sirius and Peter are going,"

"But it's not fun without you," Hiba said.

"Hiba, just go. I need to study anyway," Lily said. Her studying was interrupted as Muffin jumped up onto her lap. The kitten had grown slightly over the last few weeks and she was now at least twice as heavy as she had been.

"Lily!" Hiba said with a pout, "don't make me-" She stopped as she saw Potter approaching them. He gave Lily a hesitant smile. He was holding something behind his back.

"Um, can I talk to you Lily?" He asked. Lily looked at her friends and stood up. She put her book on the sofa but kept Muffin in her arms. She followed Potter out of the common room.

"Cute cat," Potter said, "I was wondering who she belonged to," Lily smiled and cuddled Muffin slightly tighter.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked.

"Oh, I didn't want the others to see so I thought we'd walk around for a while." Lily stopped and sighed.

"If this is an excuse to be with me-"

"No! Nothing like that!" James said, "I just wanted to give you something," Lily raised an eyebrow. James revealed what he was hiding behind his back. It was another few boxes of the Honey Chocolate.

"James," Lily said in a vaguely annoyed voice, "The chocolate is expensive, why are you spending so much money on me? I'm not even your friend." Lily looked at James. He smiled slightly.

"You called me James," He said. Lily bit her lip. She hadn't meant to. "I know we're not friends but I need someone to spend my money on,"

"What about Sarah?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. I just…I think I'm going to dump her soon," James said. "She's just…she's not my type," He held out the chocolate but avoided looking at Lily. Lily felt somewhat endeared and took the chocolate. Muffin struggled in her arms as she was transferred from two hands to one hand.

"Muffin!" Lily said as the kitten scratched her arm. James reached out and took Muffin from her. The cat purred instantly and licked his hand. Lily smiled. "She likes you"

"I feed her quite often," James said guiltily.

"That's why she's gaining weight so quickly!" Lily said, "Stop it! I don't want an obese cat!"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets some exercise as well," James said.

"How?" James tapped his nose and they made their way back to the common room.

"Tis a secret," James said as he leant towards her. Lily smiled and pushed him away from her. "So, you going to Hogsmeade?"

"No," Lily said, "I'm…" Lily paused. She didn't want to reveal she was scared to James in particular. Ever since first year there had been a competition between them. Lily had always maintained the courage side of her nature but when it came to it she was terrified. She didn't want to go to Hogsmeade where it was easier for the Slytherins to attack her.

"Fantastic!" James said, detecting Lily's reluctance to explain why, "I have a Quidditch practice, we're preparing for our first match. I'll have someone to hang out with at lunch time,"

"But Remus isn't going to Hogsmeade," Lily said.

"Lily, Full moon," James said.

"Oh, yeah," Lily said, "Well, Mary's staying as well."

"The more the merrier," James said. They came to the portrait hole, "You don't want to come down to the Quidditch pitch with me do you?"

"On Saturday?" Lily asked.

"No, now?" James asked hopefully. Lily shook her head.

"Charms homework to do," Lily said.

"But that's not due in for at least another week!" James said.

"I have a boyfriend Potter,"

"Dump him and come with me," James said. Lily felt a sudden flush of anger. James saw it and backed off a little bit, "Alright. I'll see you later," he said. He handed Muffin back to Lily and made his way out to the main entrance. Lily shook her head and went into the common room.

"What did he want?" Hiba asked.

"Nothing," Lily said. She put Muffin down, "I'll be back in a moment," She made her way upstairs and put the chocolate into a draw. Sarah and Gabbie were in the room gossiping as she entered.

"James is amazing, he really is. He's so into me," Sarah said with a grin, Lily laughed at the comment

"Yeah, ok," Lily put in.

"What?" Sarah asked, "What would you know? You rejected him."

"Don't worry, forget I said anything," Lily said as she shut her draw.

"No, what do you know?" Sarah asked.

"Not that I know of, " Lily said, "You guys going to Hogsmeade?"

"Of course," Sarah said as she fanned herself with her hand, "James is taking me to a small café there he knows of."

"Actually he's got Quidditch Practice," Lily said she left the dorm room. She didn't see the bitter look that Sarah gave her.

* * *

"Slytherins," Sirius said as he leant against a pillar in the courtyard. Remus and Peter were sitting on the floor and James was playing with a small golden snitch. James caught it and put it in his pocket. He looked over to where Sirius was pointing. A small group of about five Slytherins were huddled together whispering. Sirius pushed himself off the wall and looked at James. James stood up and looked around the courtyard. There weren't any Gryffindor girls around so they would be alright.

"Hey, Slimyrins," Sirius said as James and Sirius sauntered over to them. Behind them Remus rolled his eyes and followed reluctantly while Peter bounced with anticipation. The Slytherins turned to look. There was a seventh year, a couple of third years, Mulciber and Snape

"Is that all you can think of Black?" The seventh year asked.

"Well, you are slimy," James said with regret, "I mean, look at Snivellus. Do you ever take a bath Snivelly?" James asked waving his hand at them.

"Get lost Potter," Snape snarled. James sighed and looked at Sirius.

"How many times have we told you we can't?" James asked, "Besides, we only wanted to give you a present," Sirius reached into his bag and pulled out a bag of Cauldron cakes.

"We're truly sorry about how we've been acting towards you over the last few years and we want to give you these," Sirius said sincerely. The Slytherins looked that hem suspiciously and then one of the third years was pushed forwards to take the bag of cakes. James and Sirius waved and the Marauders left the courtyard then ran up to a classroom a few floors up. They watched as Snape cast a few spells on the cakes to see if they were alright to eat and then they all took a bite. James and Sirius laughed as they watched the Slytherins all clamp their hands over their mouths. They all shouted in pain then suddenly the started turning into different animals.

"Yeah!" Sirius shouted as he and James high-fived.

"Look, Mulciber is a rat," Remus said.

"I'm a lot better looking," Peter said as he laughed.

"Well said Wormtail, well said," Sirius said. Soon the animals started going crazy and attacking anyone who sported a Slytherin badge on their uniform or Syltherin colours. The four boys were laughing so hard then fell over and had to grip their stomachs.

"POTTER! BLACK! LUPIN! PETTIGREW!" came the stern voice of McGonagall that sobered them up immediately. "To the Headmaster's office NOW!"

"Although I do approve of you using a potion that is well beyond the level you should be at and your noble attempt at getting revenge in a non-violent way, I must point out that you have broken a school rule and you did use magic on other students without any consent from a teacher," Dumbledore said as he looked at the four of them over his glasses. James was glad that Professor McGonagall had left because if she had heard Dumbledore talking like this James knew she'd throw a fit. The four boys all grinned at each other. "As a result I may not permit you to visit Hogsmeade this weekend. This is instead of a week of detentions,"

"Professor!" Sirius moaned.

"We have to go!" Peter complained.

"Would you rather miss a weekend of Hogsmeade then have Gryffindor win the Quidditch cup this year?" Dumbledore said with a wink. James grinned. Dumbledore was giving them the choice. If they had detentions for a week, James wouldn't be able to attend Quidditch practice. Grins appeared on Remus and Sirius' faces. Peter, who was slightly slower then them took a while to catch on, if he caught on at all he didn't have a chance to say.

"Now, about your arrangements, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore said, "I personally will be guarding the shack tonight and probably will do until the end of the year. I have received reports saying that Voldemort has been targeting those who are not quite human, which puts you at risk as well," Remus nodded, his expression serious.

"Professor," Remus said, "I told Lily Evans about my problem," Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Really? What did she say?"

"She doesn't mind," Remus said, "I thought I should tell you," Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

"She is a good girl," Dumbledore said, "Mischievous but good,"

"Lily Evans?" Sirius asked. Dumbledore nodded.

"You four and Lily have more in common then you may think. She's just more subtle about it," Dumbledore told them.

"What do you mean?" James asked, trying to get more information about Lily Evans.

"You'll have to find out for yourself," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Come on Professor! Please tell us!" Sirius said, trying to suck up to Dumbledore, "I'll do anything!"

"I've said quite enough for now," He said, "Now off you go or you'll miss Charms."

"I love Dumbeldore!" Sirius said as they wandered towards the Charms classroom, "I knew he was cool but to let us off with a chance to win the cup!"

"Well, he was in Gryffindor you know," Remus said as he made sure he had his books. Remus found a few more cauldron cakes in his bag and showed them to the boys.

"We'll send them by owl later," James said. He had a slight skip in his step that made Snape glare at him when he entered the classroom. He had been returned to his normal shape by McGonagall while Dumbeldore had spoken to the boys.

"I heard you got into trouble again," Hiba said as she leant back to talk to Sirius, "What did you do this time?"

"Charmed some Slytherins into attacking their own kind for a change," He said quietly with a slight laugh in his voice. Next to Hiba Lily flicked her hair impatiently. James bit his lip. He was hoping she wouldn't find out that it had been them. James hit Sirius under the desk

"Ow, what was that for?" Sirius said as he looked at James. James nodded at Lily.

"You weren't going to say anything,"

"Hey James, you want to swap seats?" Hiba asked cheekily. At that Lily turned and looked at Hiba with a sharp glare.

"No! You promised-" Lily started to say.

"I'll swap with Lily," Sirius interrupted. Hiba stood up and waited for James to move.

"Fine," James said pretending that it was just too much hassle. He had sat down next to the red head as Professor Flitwick came in.

"Good afternoon class," He squeaked, "Today we'll continue our work on wordless casting. You have mastered the basic spells but to accomplish it on the more advanced spells you will need to have further practice," He said. Lily sighed next to James and she slouched in her chair.

"What?" James asked.

"I already know this," Lily muttered, she turned to look at Hiba with a slightly miserable look. James turned as well and saw both Hiba and Sirius grinning broadly.

"I hate her sometimes," Lily said as she stabbed her quill at the parchment.

"Yeah, she's terrible," James said with a smile that Lily didn't see. They went through their lesson quickly. Lily was being surprisingly cold towards James and he figured it must have been the attack on Slytherins that she disapproved of. He peered at her notes a few times as he had a tendency of missing the tips that Flitwick was giving them. Once the class got underway Flitwick walked around the room watching the class trying to cast the most complicated spells they knew. Lily just sat next to James conjuring birds and flowers and transfiguring them without uttering a single word. Meanwhile the rest of the class tried not to shout out spells in anger.

"How do you do that?" James asked her.

"Easy. You just have to concentrate and imagine you're saying the word," Lily said, "At least that's what I do, try it," James nodded and flicked his wand, 'Aguamenti,' he thought. He felt like he was saying it and a stream of clear water burst out of the end of his wand and knocked Lily off her chair. James suppressed the urge to laugh as she picked herself up off the floor.

"Brilliant!" Sirius laughed. Most of the class were laughing. Thos laughing hardest were the ones who had seen it happen. James thought back and remembered the look of pure shock on her face as she had been hit.

"Sorry," James said, "Do you want me to dry you off?" He asked.

"No!" Lily said, "You'll probably make my clothes disappear!" James thought about it. It wouldn't be too bad. A naked Lily is something he wouldn't mind seeing. Lily picked up her wand and dried herself off.

"I didn't mean to hit you," James said.

"Then why did you point your wand in my direction?" Lily asked as she flicked her wand over her notes. They all dried instantly. James opened his mouth to reply when there was a knock at the door.

"Professor Flitwick," McGonagall asked from the doorway. She looked as if she had never had a happy moment in her life.

"Yes,"

"May I borrow Miss Qazi and Mr Shacklebolt for the rest of the class?" McGonagall asked. Flitwick nodded. Hiba turned to look at Lily then got up. Near the back of the class a boy from Ravenclaw with black skin and an earring stood up and went to the door.

"What is it Professor?" Hiba asked.

"Would you please come with me," McGonagall said. Hiba turned to look at Lily and gave her shrug to indicate she had no idea what was happening. The classroom quickly burst into noise as people started discussing what could bring two bright students out of class. Flitwick ran around squeaking at people to be quiet then he held his wand in the air and let off a loud bang noise that was accompanied by a little trail of smoke.

"Please continue with the lesson," he said haughtily. He returned to his pile of books and stood behind the desk.

"I hope she's not in trouble," Lily said anxiously.

"Why would she be in trouble? You two never do anything wrong," James said. A look from Lily told him that she didn't believe him. "You have? What have you done?" James asked with a grin. He pulled up a chair and sat waiting to hear some stories.

"It's none of your business," Lily said. She flicked her wand and a trail of smoke came out of her wand. She started making shapes with it and it kept her occupied for the rest of the lesson.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Lily paced in the common room as she waited for Hiba. She still hadn't returned from McGonagall's office. Mary was biting her nails and Sirius had even joined them for their worrying session. The portrait hole opened and Lily stopped to see who it was. It was only a few first years staggering in under a pile of books they'd taken out of the library. Lily's thought immediately drifted to how they were carrying them. It was easier to carry them piled up, not eight under each arm! She scowled at them until the portrait hole opened again. This time it was Peter.

"I just saw Hiba," He said.

"Where is she?" Lily and Mary asked at the same time.

"She's gone to the Ravenclaw tower. James and I over heard McGonagall when we left Charms. All we heard was that she had to get her brother for McGonagall-" Lily was out of the common room in a flash. She ran through the corridors as fast as she could. She had nearly reached the Ravenclaw tower when-

"Stop right there!" shouted Filch from behind Lily. Lily skid to a stop and turned to look at Filch, "A Prefect!"

"Mr. Filch, I have to-"

"Evans eh?" He said, "McGonagall will hear about-"

"Have you had your hair cut Mr. Filch?" Lily said with the best smile she could muster.

"What?" Filch asked.

"It looks very nice today, you must have had it cut?" Filch faltered at Lily's sudden change of tone. Filch gently fingered his hair.

"Well, yes, I got it cut last week but-"

"It really suits you, Mr. Filch. Is there a lucky lady?" Filch shrugged.

"No, just thought that I could do with a bit of a change,"

"A few inches off is really quite a big change," Lily said, "I bet the teachers have all been after you since you had it cut?"

"Well, no-"

"No! Well they should be! I'll go and tell Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout right now what idiots they are!" Lily said. She turned and stormed off. Filch was left behind opening his mouth like a fish. Lily turned the corner when someone grabbed her and pulled a cloak over her. Lily would have screamed but James clamped a hand over her mouth.

"It's just me," He whispered. Lily struggled out of his grip and glanced around. They were under his cloak.

"What are you doing here?" Lily hissed.

"Waiting for Hiba. I wanted to see what happened," James said, then he smiled, "Nice bit of flirting," Lily blushed slightly.

"I do what I have to so I don't get into trouble," She said.

"And how often has that been Lily?" James asked.

"None of your business," Lily said. They heard some footsteps and James pressed Lily against the wall.

"Don't move," he breathed into Lily's ear. Lily stayed still as she saw Mo and his friends walk past.

"She's great. She's so smart and beautiful," Mo said, "I think I'm going to be with her for a while," His friends all laughed.

"Only cause it's taking you so long to get some!" another said. Mo pushed his friend.

"Don't say that about Lily!" Mo said. His friends were still grinning then Mo grinned, "It's not all about sex-" He and his friends wandered up a set of stairs that led to the Ravenclaw tower. Lily smiled when she heard Mo and knew that he was a great guy! There were only a few problems but Lily could fix that.

"Son of a-" James muttered. Lily moved to look at him. He was literally pressing her against the wall. They were so close that Lily could feel his heart beating through his chest. Was a heart supposed to beat that fast? Lily's didn't.

"Don't you say a word against him," Lily said.

"He's a prick," James said, "You know I wouldn't even say anything about you in front of my friends," He looked down at Lily. All she could just about look into his eyes from where she stood. He was really close. Lily found her thoughts straying away from Hiba, away from Mo, away from Hogwarts. His lips were right there and James Potter really wasn't that bad looking.

"No!" Lily said as she pushed him away, "Get away from me Potter." She marched from underneath the invisibility cloak and ran up the stairs to the Ravenclaw common room. She closed her eyes for a moment as she ran and bumped into Mo.

"Lily!" He said as he caught her. She smiled at him.

"Hi," She said as she gave him a kiss, "You wouldn't mind seeing if Hiba's in the common room would you?"

"Of course not, how are you?" Mo's friend asked with a laugh. Mo hit him.

"Yeah sure, I'll have a look," He said. He took Lily's had and they went to the entrance, "Wait here," He gave her another kiss then went into the tower. Lily waited outside for a moment then Hiba and her brother, Ahsan, appeared. Hiba's face was stained with tears and her eyes were red.

"Hibs! What's wrong?" Lily asked as she took Hiba into an embrace.

"My parents," She cried, "They…McGonagall told me…Lestrange…" was all she could say. Lily knew instantly. One of the Lestranges had killed Hiba's parents. Lily held her tighter. Ahsan was a few years below them and he looked like he was in shock.

"What about the others?" Lily whispered after a while, "Your brother and sister?"

"The house was…" Hiba started sobbing even more. A tear fell down her brother's face and Lily's jumper started getting very wet from Hiba's tears.

"Our sister is in St. Mungos but we don't know how long she'll last," Ahsan said, "McGonagall and Flitwick have let us go and stay with her until-" His voice gave out. Lily nodded and she looked at Hiba.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Just…take good notes for me," Hiba said, attempting a joke. Lily gave her a sad smile and nodded. She took Hiba's hand and walked with her to McGonagall's office.

"Evans," McGonagall said with a sombre nod. Lily noticed the Ravenclaw Kingsley Shacklebolt, looking unnaturally pale, sitting next to the fire. It almost looked as though all his skin pigments had disappeared.

"I have arranged a portkey for you three to get to St. Mungos. A teacher will come every day to check up on you," McGonagall said, "When you are ready," She said to Hiba and her brother.

"Write to me and tell me how she is," Lily said to Hiba. Hiba nodded and gave Lily a last hug before she went. Lily left the office and watched the door as McGonagall closed it on her. Lily scowled and felt a few tears coming to her own eyes. She suppressed a sob and took a deep breath. The Qazis were good people. All they wanted was for everyone to get along, wasn't that why Hiba's father was an ambassador. They were some of the nicest people Lily had ever met. They had no discriminations and they just loved the fact that Hiba's best friend was a Muggle-born.

"She'll be alright. Hiba's a strong girl," James said from behind Lily, making her jump.

"Don't do that!" Lily said as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. James conjured a handkerchief and gave Lily a smile at her stunned look.

"I've been practicing," He said, "While I was under the cloak,"

"Thanks," Lily muttered. James shrugged as if it was nothing.

"Come on, time for some of that chocolate I think," James said. Lily nodded and let James lead her back to the common room.

* * *

At the weekend Hiba still hadn't returned from the hospital. Kingsley had come back and had told Sirius Black that his parents had also been killed. It turned out that a Death Eater with blond hair had been seen coming out of Kingley's house. Sirius and James knew instantly who it was. The whole school found out on the Wednesday when the prophets came streaming in. Hiba's parents death had made the front page because of their importance.

_PAKISTANI EMBASSADOR AND FAMILY KILLED IN VICIOUS DEATH EATER ATTACK!_

Lily hadn't been able to eat and Mary just shuffled her food around on her plate. Sirius became gloomier and spent most of his time stalking his brother. Sirius seemed to believe that Regulus Black was behind it. While Sirius went off to try and stalk his brother James spent most of his time in the Library sitting at the table with Lily. Mary had decided to study in her room now but Lily stayed in the Library and she looked rather lonely sitting on her own so James Potter had taken pity. Despite the news of her friend's parent's death Lily was able to concentrate on her work better then ever. James marvelled at the depth of her notes and the detail she took in writing up notes that James himself literally scrawled on the page. Occasionally Peter and Remus joined them but James was with Lily from the end of school until they got kicked out. Lily barely said anything. James wasn't sure whether it was from worry or because she was so close to Hiba's parents. James wasn't sure how close they were.

"Hey Lily," James said to her quietly on Saturday morning, "I have to go to Quidditch practice, you want to come and watch?" Lily shook her head, "It'll do you some good to get out of the Library for a while." Lily stopped writing and just froze for a few minutes.

"Alright," She said. James smiled and watched as Lily packed her things. James threw his books into his bag and waited for Lily to stand up. They walked down to the Quidditch pitch together and parted once they came to the changing rooms. James gave a sad smile as he watched Lily disappearing up some stairs into the stands.

"Took your time!" said Ignatius Polly, a third year Chaser.

"Sorry, one of my friends-"

"We know," said the Keeper, Yasmine Jaklyn, "How are Lily and Mary?"

"Coping, I think they'll be better though once Hiba gets back," James said, "We all ready?"

"Yep,"

"Good," They went onto the pitch and while the team flew in the air James let out the bludgers and the snitch.

"Today we're going to let Matthews do all the work," James said with a smile to the fifth year Seeker.

"What!" He moaned.

"You said you needed more practice at dodging bludgers," James said in a matter of fact voice. Matthews looked at the bludgers flying around in the air, "Now everyone get a bat," James handed out bats to the Chasers, keeper and the beaters.

"Come on James," Matthews said, "I know I suggested it but you know-" he coughed, "-I think I'm getting a cold," James joined his team in the air and hit a bludger as hard as he could. Matthews dived out of the way.

"Oh come on!" Matthews said, "Yas, please, you know you love me," He ducked one that came from Yasmine. Yasmine had a huge grin on her face.

"That's for standing me up during the holidays!" She said.

"Quickly Matthews!" James said, "The Slytherins have a strong team this year and we've trained as hard as you can but that doesn't make a difference if you can't catch a snitch properly!" Ignatius hit a bludger at Matthews and very nearly hit him. It missed Matthews by about an inch.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Matthews shouted at Ignatius as he watched the bludger fly past.

"CATCH THE DAMN SNITCH IF YOU WANT US TO STOP!" shouted a chaser, Georgina Brown. Matthews darted away and dodged around bludgers, players and goalposts. James loved pelting the bludgers at Matthews. It was a great stress reliever and it was satisfying to see the black ball flying away at such high speeds. After fifteen minutes he flew down to Lily.

"You want to join in?" James asked.

"I'm not very good at Quidditch," Lily said, "It looks fun though,"

"It is, come on!" James said. He pulled Lily to his feet and despite her protests he managed to get her on the broom in front of him.

"Oh my god!" Lily said as she clung onto James as he did a barrel roll, "Don't do that again!" James laughed and stopped in mid air.

"Right, do you think you can hit a bludger?"

"No," Lily said.

"That's fine. Use magic to send it flying off." James showed her how to and soon Matthews was being attacked at what seemed like five bludgers at a time. The Gryffindors were having the time of their life while the poor little seeker tried desperately to get the Snitch. He must have caught it about three times in the four hour practice session and that was with a beater to protect him on the second and third time.

"Good practice guys! We'll have another one tomorrow," James shouted as his players flew back to him from all points of the pitch. Matthews flew past him, his arms covered in bruises

"I hate you James,"

"Your idea," James said with a smile. James turned his head to see Lily smiling slightly, "Feel better?"

"A bit," Lily admitted, "it was getting fun after you stopped doing loop the loops," James grinned and flew back down. Lily got off and just stood looking at James rather self consciously. She looked quite cute when she did it and James couldn't help smiling at her.

"You want to wait while I change or are you ok getting back to the castle on your own?" James asked.

"I'll be alright on my own," Lily said.

"Are you sure? What if the Slytherins-"

"I'm a big girl James," Lily said with a smile. She picked up her bag and looked at James a little longer, "thanks," She gave him a quick hug then quickly darted off as if she was scared of what might happen if she spent any more time with him. James grinned and launched himself into the air on his broom.

"Yes!" He shouted as he did a few barrel rolls. She liked him. He could tell! He had noticed it over the last few days. He just needed to keep being nice to her and she'd like him even more. Why hadn't he stopped picking on her sooner? James flew as high as he could before plummeting down to the ground as fast as he could. He turned his broomstick at the last moment so hard that the tail brushed the grass before he shot off towards Hagrid's hut. He flew low and before Hagrid had a chance to say anything he shot into the Forbidden forest and was weaving in and out of the trees at such a high speed that a collision could have killed him but James soon burst out of the canopy and then returned to the Quidditch pitch. He was in such a good mood that nothing could bring him down.

* * *

"YOU!" Sirius shouted as he barged down the corridor. Severus and Regulus both turned around to look at Sirius Black. They were also with Mulciber and Avery.

"Sirius," Regulus said in a cold voice. They had been on their way back from dinner and were in the dungeons near their common room. Sirius pushed Severus and Avery away then grabbed Regulus by the front of his shirt and pushed him against the wall. Severus, Avery and Mulciber all whipped out their wands a few seconds after Black had his pointed at Regulus' throat.

"You did it didn't you?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Regulus said.

"Imp-"

"Stupefy!" Sirius said before Mulciber could get the words out. Mulciber fell to the floor stunned. Sirius turned his wand back to his brother, "You are the only one who could convince Bella to attack a pure blood family like the Qazis," Sirius pressed his arm against Regulus' throat.

"They were blood traitors!" Regulus wheezed, "They're known to harbour mudbloods and half breeds like Lupin!" Severus watched Sirius Black's face turn almost into stone.

"What did you say about him?"

"Snape told us everything. The way you, Potter and Pettigrew help him to get out every full moon. I can't believe I didn't see it! Not only are you a blood traitor and a mudblood lover but you help the worst kind of sc-" Sirius had his wand so far into Regulus' neck that Severus couldn't even see the point of it. He wanted to curse Black but that would put Regulus' life in danger. Regulus wasn't really worth saving but he was valuable and he had connections whereas Severus had none.

"You two try anything and I'll blow off your heads," Black growled. He then looked at his brother, "You do anything to my friends or their families and I swear to Merlin you will regret it forever,"

"What could you possibly do?" Regulus asked, "I'm your brother, I know full well you can't hurt me,"

"You think so?"

"Yeh," Regulus grinned then winced as Black jabbed his wand further into his neck.

"You're right," Black said. He lowered his wand, "You're my brother and even though I'm not technically a Black by your standards, I still love you as disgusting as it may seem." Regulus rubbed his neck.

"Blood traitor," Regulus snarled. Black curled up his fist and hit his brother so hard that Regulus' nose broke. Regulus cried in pain and sank to the floor. Sirius kicked him for good measure the turned his wands on Severus and Avery. They both raised their wands at Black. Severus knew he could curse him all he wanted to but something held him back. A small voice in the back of his head was telling him that to hurt Black would turn Lily against him forever. Everything for Lily.

"You tell anyone about this meeting and you'll wish you weren't born," Sirius said.

"You're not that dark Black," Severus said.

"Oh yeah? Just try me," Black said. He pointed his wand from one to the other, "No takers?" Avery and Severus just stood still with their wands pointed at them, "Watch your backs," Black said. He walked off and disappeared behind a corner. Severus crouched down to Regulus' side and tapped Regulus' nose with his wand. There was a crunching sound and Regulus' nose was back to normal. Avery revived Mulciber and the Slytherins all got up.

"What happened?" Mulciber asked as he got up.

"My brother," Regulus said darkly, "He's going to wish he'd never attacked me,"

"What can you possibly do to hurt him?" Avery asked.

"Sirius Black cares too much for his friends. He's already lost his family and his friends sufferings will make him suffer," Regulus said. "I think it's time we went after the mudbloods," Severus felt like a bucket of cold water had just been thrown at him. He had to warn Lily.

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**A/N:- Thanks for the very few reviews guys. same as usual, Hope you guys have a good halloween!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:- sorry it's been so long. I've been overloaded with work (final year of uni and all) and I just haven't had the time to do anything else. This is the first free morning i've had in several months, excl x-mas morning so seemed as good a time as any to update. Hope you like it.**

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**Chapter 9**

"Lily!" Snape shouted as he ran after her in the corridors. It was nearly midnight and Lily was returning to the Gryffindor Common room. She rolled her eyes and sighed as she heard Snape running after her.

"Lily! Wait!" She turned to face him.

"You're out after curfew," Lily said with her hands on her hips, "Det-"

"Yourfamilyisindanger," Snape blurted out quickly, "So is Mary's."

"What do you care for them?" Lily asked.

"More then you know," Snape said. Lily regarded him carefully. He was telling the truth. She knew because she could see the fear in his eyes. She crossed her arms and nodded.

"Fine, now go before I reconsider that detention," She said. Snape nodded and ran away as fast as he could.

"What was that about?" James Potter asked as he came from the direction Snape was running in.

"Muttering something stupid," Lily said. She tried to pass it off casually but Snape had warned her and she was not going to take it lightly, even if it was Snape!

"What about?"

"Nothing," Lily said, she turned to James, "How well connected is your dad?"

"Pretty well connected, why?" James asked suspiciously.

"I want to ask a favour," Lily said, "Could you organise for a guard for my family and Mary's family?"

"Alright, but it'll cost you," James said. Lily's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean? This is a life or death situation, literally. If there isn't a -" James Potter moved forwards and pressed his lips against hers. Lily nearly jumped in surprise and pushed him away.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry, you looked so beautiful when worried, but I'll do it now," James said.

"A kiss? That's all you wanted?" Lily asked. James shrugged, "You're such an arrogant little toerage James Potter," She snapped at him. James' expression fell, "But thank you," She said. James smiled and nodded. James led the way back and Lily followed a few feet behind him. She touched her lips with her hands. The kiss with James had been too short for her to feel anything of judge him but he had nice lips. Lily looked at the back of James' head as he walked. He was watching the paintings as they walked down the corridor to the Gryffindor Common room. They stopped by the portrait of the Fat Lady when Lily stopped James.

"James," She said. James turned to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"It's my birthday next week," She said, "I'll be reaching the legal age. Buy something nice for me," She said with a smile. James grinned and nodded.

"Anything," He said. Lily smiled and said the password. She walked through the portrait hole first and then James followed.

The next morning Lily and her room mates woke up to find that Hiba's things had all been packed. The bed was made and her things were piled up neatly at the end of her bed. A House elf popped out of sight as Lily opened her hangings. Muffin jumped onto the bed and purred as she leant against Lily. 

"You're awake," Hiba said quietly from her own bed. Lily looked at Hiba. She looked as though she hadn't slept in days. She had made an attempt to look nice but the air of sadness around her spoiled the effect of nice clothes and make up.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked.

"I'm leaving," Hiba said, "My sister pulled through but she's going to need to be looked after for the rest of her life. I'm leaving," Hiba announced.

"What?" Lily asked. She felt as though all her insides had sunk to her feet. Hiba leaving? She couldn't. It wasn't allowed! She wasn't even seventeen yet! She couldn't use magic outside of school.

"I've spoken to Dumbledore, my grandparents and my brother. Seher can't travel so she can't go to live with my family. They can't come here because it's almost impossible for them to get into the country at the moment. I would stay here but Ahsan is sort of irresponsible and Seher said she wanted me to stay with her," Hiba said. Tears were falling down her face, "I'm sorry Lily," Lily couldn't say anything for a few moments.

"It's not your fault," Lily said as she tried to suppress a sob. Her best friend was leaving her!

"I want to stay, I honestly really do but I can't,"

"What will you do? You're not legal age yet!" Lily said.

"My birthday is in a few months, I'll be alright. I've lived like a muggle before. I know what to do thanks to you and I can change up some money at Gringotts," Hiba said. Lily could tell that she'd put a lot of thought into this from the tone of her voice. Hiba already sounded very grown up. Lily wanted to cry but she knew it'd be harder for Hiba to leave if she did. As selfish as Lily felt she knew she couldn't keep Hiba in Hogwarts while her sister needed her at St. Mungos. Lily stood up and went to hug Hiba. Hiba held Lily and they both cried silently for a few moments. Before any of the others woke up Lily changed and went with Hiba to Dumbledore's office.

"Ready Miss Qazi?" Dumbledore asked seriously. Hiba nodded. Ahsan was in the room as well and he looked as though he didn't want Hiba to leave.

"Ready," Hiba said. She turned to Lily, "I wanted to stay and say goodbye to you, but I can't do it more then once," Hiba said, "Tell the others for me," Lily nodded.

"It has been an honour having you here as a student, Hiba Qazi. I am proud of what you're doing and remember, if there are any difficulties at home, please do not hesitate to send me a message. I will help all I can," Dumbledore said. Hiba and Lily both looked at Dumbledore. The sparkle in his eyes had died for the moment and he looked older the Lily had ever seen him look before.

"Professor?" Lily asked. Dumbledore didn't respond for a few moments.

"Sorry, Lily, I was just remembering something," Dumbledore said, "Good luck Hiba, I wish you all the best,"

"Thank you Professor," Hiba said.

"Please, call me Albus from now on, you are no longer a student," Hiba nodded and despite herself she hugged Dumbledore and cried. Dumbledore held the crying girl as long as she held onto him. He knew she needed to let it out before she went to her sister. Lily sank into a chair and wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt. Soon Hiba had said a quick farewell to her brother and touched a portkey. She disappeared and Lily stared at the spot she had been for a few minutes.

"Another great family has fallen but like a phoenix you shall rise from the ashes," Dumbledore said. Ahsan turned to look at Dumbledore.

"Sir?"

"If you stick together you will make it through as long as you remember your family," Dumbledore said. Ahsan nodded, "Now it's time you two got to breakfast," Lily and Ahsan made their way down from the office and went their separate ways without talking to each other. Lily chose to go back to the common room to tidy herself up before she went to breakfast. She took the opportunity to change into jeans and a black t-shirt. Nice and dark to reflect how she felt. When she came back down she bumped into Sirius.

"You'd better get out quickly," Sirius said to Lily.

"Why?"

Then, as if on cue, "YOU'RE DUMPING ME?" Sarah Parton screamed so loudly she must have woken up the entire Gryffindor House.

"Well, yes, that's what, I'm dumping you means," James said.

"WHY?"

"Well, um-" James gave an involuntary look to Lily. Sarah turned to stare at her. Lily could feel Sarah's gaze hit her like fire.

"As I said," Sirius said. Lily nodded in agreement and followed Sirius and Peter out of the common room.

"Why's he dumping her?" Lily asked.

"Do you really need an answer to that question?" Peter asked Lily. Lily shook her head. She didn't. This was probably a good thing. James dumping Sarah would keep her mind off Hiba leaving for a while. Only for a while though. Lily wouldn't let her mind stray for too long, however because she still had a boyfriend who, admittedly, really wasn't there for her. Recently Lily had been feeling more and more like a trophy girlfriend then an actual girlfriend. Still being Mo had its moments where she felt like he was the right guy like the previous night. The three of them found Mary sitting with Remus, she was shuffling food around on her plate. They went and sat next to her. Lily wanted to tell them but she wouldn't say anything until James arrived. James had a right to know too, Hiba had been fond of him. They made some small talk but Lily kept thinking about Hiba.

"You heard from Hiba yet?" Mary asked Lily. Lily nodded.

"I have something to tell you but I'm going to wait until James gets here," She said

"Fair enough," Sirius said. Soon James joined them. He had a red mark on his cheek where Sarah had obviously slapped him. Lily watched him sit down next to Mary, opposite Lily, and start piling food on his plate.

"Dumping girls always makes me hungry," James explained as he saw Lily giving him a funny look.

"Everything makes you hungry," Sirius laughed. How could Sirius laugh at a time like this? Lily felt like hitting him.

"I have something to tell you," Lily said to them all as they all finished their breakfasts.

"You haven't eaten your eggs, can I have them?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, sure," Lily gave Peter her plate, "Hiba was here this morning," the others all looked at her.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Mary asked.

"Hiba didn't want to," Lily said, "She couldn't-" Lily stopped for a moment. How could she phrase this?

"What happened?" James asked seriously.

"Hiba's sister needs care and Hiba's the only one who can do it. She left Hogwarts at about seven thirty this morning. She's not coming back," Lily said as she stared at her plate.

"What?" Sirius asked, "Why? I mean, I know you said why but why?" Lily didn't feel like talking so she stayed quiet.

"Is she ok?" Mary asked.

"Are you ok?" James asked Lily in particular. Lily shook her head. James ducked under the table and sat next to Lily. He put an arm around her and hugged her. Lily felt grateful that he did and she just held onto his jumper. Just being hugged by someone was comforting and helped ease the pain of Hiba leaving.

"A week before your birthday too," Remus said solemnly.

"Meet by the lake later?" Sirius asked. Remus, James and Peter nodded.

"For what?" Mary asked them.

"Memorial service," Peter said, "For every person we know who dies or who has lost someone we go to the lake and have a small memorial service."

"You're invited from now on," Remus said. Lily leant her head against James' shoulder. She didn't trust herself to say anything but she nodded to let them know she would come.

Owls swooped into the hall at that moment filling the hall with hoots. Lily looked up and saw the brown owl that she had bought her parents come down and drop a letter on her lap. Lily gave it a sausage and it flew off again.

"Oh, what's in it?" Mary asked, she was grateful for something to change the mood. Lily opened the letter and read it.

_Hello Darling, how are you doing? Things are alright here. Your father got a promotion the other day so we'll be able to buy you that dress robe that you wanted next time we're in Diagon Alley. I've been well if a bit depressed. It's always depressing seeing all your beautiful flowers die with the onset of winter but, on the other hand, the trees are looking fabulous. You'd love to see the road with trees that have golden leaves on it._

_I wanted to write to you to tell you that Petunia is marrying Vernon in the winter. He proposed to her last month and they've set a date for the twenty-eight. We've finally convinced Petunia to tell him about you and so we've spoken to him. He doesn't seem all that happy and seems to share the same point of view as Petunia, which is a shame really because you're such a wonderful girl. Between you and me I don't particularly like him and neither does your father but he's successful and he'll give your sister a good future. Petunia didn't want to at first but she'd inviting you to the wedding and you are allowed to bring a friend with you. Maybe that Potter boy and before you think it, I know you don't like him but a mother can dream. Write back soon to tell us if you can come. Give my love to Hiba and Mary._

_Mum_

_Xxxx_

Lily folded the letter back up and saw the wedding invitation. She sighed and put them all back into the envelope.

"Anything interesting?" Mary asked.

"My mum sends her love," Lily said, "And Petunia's getting married to someone who already hates me. It just completes my happy morning." Sirius gave a snigger of amusement.

"How can someone hate you already?"

"Ask my sister," Lily said, "She probably didn't put me in a good light." Lily looked over to the Ravenclaw table. She saw Mo sitting there with his friends laughing. He hadn't even come over to say hi. Maybe she could consider making her mum happy for once and take Potter with her. After all, his company wasn't as bad as it used to be. He was maturing and he did seem to care for Lily. It would be nice.

"I have to go," James said as he looked at his watch, "Quidditch practice,"

"Alright, have fun," Sirius said. He got up to go. Lily waited until he was out of the hall before she got up as well.

"I'll see you guys later," She said. She walked out of the hall and ran up the stairs to catch up with James, on his way to the tower to get his things.

"Lily?" He asked as she came to a stop next to him.

"Um, my mum wants me to take someone to Tuney's wedding. She and Hiba have both been pushing to make this move so here goes…do you want to come with me?" She asked. James didn't answer. He seemed to be in shock if anything. Lily frowned.

"Are you alright?" She asked. James nodded slowly, "If you don't want to go I understand, I haven't been the nicest girl in the world, especially towards y-" James took her hands in hers.

"Of course I'll go with you,"

"As a friend, of course," Lily added.

"Of course," James said with a grin. Lily smiled. She couldn't manage anything more. "Why aren't you taking Mo?"

"I-I have my reasons," Lily said. James gave her a knowing smile and kissed her cheek. He was certainly taking a lot of liberties recently! Hugging, kissing, holding her. Not that she minded too much but still!

"See you later," James said.

"Have a good practice, and don't hurt Matthews too much," Lily said. James nodded and ran off as he became slowly later for practice. Lily turned to leave the castle and walked out into the grounds. It was cold outside so she conjured her coat and a scarf. The November winds seemed to be lashing at her face but it was a welcome pain. She went down to the lake and sat down under the large oak tree that James and his friends usually hung out under. The scenery was soothing and relaxing. The longer she stared at the mountains and the water the more she felt that she'd be alright. As long as she had Mary and the Marauders she'd be alright at Hogwarts. Besides, she could always write to Hiba and see her at Hogsmeade! And there was the Christmas and Easter holidays.

* * *

James stood next to Lily as he and his friends stood at the edge of the lake. Ahsan had joined them at Lily's request. The sun had started to go down and curfew would start in a moment and Lily had yet to do all her homework. Sirius, Remus, Peter and James had all conjured little paper boats which all had small tea lights in them.

"For the fallen who will rise again," Sirius said,

"For the deceased will never be forgotten," said Peter.

"For the good who are mighty at heart," Said Remus.

"For those who will triumph over those who do wrong," James said, "We remember Mikeal Qazi, brother of our friend Hiba Qazi," James put his boat on the water and lit the tea light with his wand.

"We remember Mr and Mrs Qazi, parents of Hiba Qazi," Sirius said. He took it down to the water.

"We remember Mr and Mrs Sacklebolt, parents of Kingsley Shacklebolt," Remus said. He did the same as James and Remus. Peter handed his boat to Lily. Lily took in her hands. James saw her hands trembling as she took it to the water.

"For Hiba, my best friend. You will be great. I'll always be there for you. Don't forget us," Lily said as she let the boat go. Instead of taking it to the water she used her wand to make it float through the air and land softly in the water. A small breeze carried the boats further into the lake. James inched closer to Lily and hesitantly took her hand. He felt Lily's hand take his happily and she leant against him. James felt a calm come over him and Lily's body seemed to relax slightly.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:- sorry for the REAAAALALLYYY long delay. I've had ridiculous amounts of work. Please dont be angry.**

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**Chapter 10**

James grinned broadly as he looked at the present on the table. It was Lily's birthday and it was the first Quidditch game of the season. Could a day get any better? He was relaxing by the fire early in the morning. He liked to wake up early and think over the Quidditch strategies but after an hour or so his mind began to wonder away from Quidditch. The only thing he knew was that today he was going to win for Lily. He heard a noise and someone came out of the girl's dormitory. It could only be one girl. James peered over the top of the sofa and looked at Lily walking sleepily towards the big comfy chair by the fire. She hadn't seen James yet and yawned loudly.

"Good morning," James said as she sat down. Lily gave a shout of surprise then clutched her chest.

"You berk!" She said as she threw a pillow at him, "What are you doing up so early?"

"I could say the same for you," James said as her wonderful green eyes gazed at him.

"I was going to go to the Library and get some work done,"

"Aren't you coming to the game?" James asked with a pout

"Of course I'm coming," She said with a smile, "Do you think I want to miss Gryffindor beating Slytherin?"

"You have a lot of faith in us," James said as he sat up.

"We have a half decent captain this year," Lily said. James gave her a playful glare then jumped off the sofa. Lily started in surprise again but this time she didn't throw anything at him.

"I have a present for you," He said. He sat on the table next to the rather large looking box and indicated for Lily to open it, "I know you're not studying the subject this year but I thought you'd like one anyway." Lily stood up and went to the table. She was looking at James carefully as if the present was going to explode. It was wrapped in lovely white wrapping paper and had a gold ribbon around it.

"It's not dangerous is it?" Lily asked.

"Not unless you use it to knock someone out," James said with a grin. Lily smiled slightly and pulled off the ribbon. The paper came off next and then there was the plain box. James bounced slightly as she opened the box with her wand and peered inside. She made the thing levitate once she realised it was too heavy for her to carry. It was a glass ball with all the planets and suns in the galaxy moving at the right speed around their orbits. The detail in the ball was amazing and as Lily examined it from every angle James watched with joy as Lily's face lit up.

"As I said, I thought you'd like it," He said with a smile.

"This must have been so expensive," Lily said.

"As I said before, it's worth it for you," He said a little self-consciously. Lily gave him a look that he'd never seen on her face before.

"I'm sorry about what I said to you at the start of term," She said.

"What did you say to me?" James asked.

"About you not thinking," She explained.

"Oh that? Don't worry about it," James said.

"No, I want to take it back. I got you completely wrong James and…I want to say I'm sorry," She said.

"Lily, don't worry," James said again. Lily let the orb float back into the box and she turned to look at James again.

"Win the Quidditch cup this year," She said shyly, "and I might consider going out with you," It sounded as though she hadn't fully made up her mind about the decision yet. James sat up. His body was on alert. Did she just say? No, she couldn't have! Lily was considering dating him, James Potter!

"A-are y-you serious?" James stammered. Lily took a step forwards and kissed him on the cheek. James felt her lips linger on his skin for a moment before returned to where she had been standing. James stood up slightly and pulled her closer. He couldn't help it the touch of her lips on his cheek had made something click. He pulled her towards him and kissed her on the mouth. She responded for a while before they broke apart. She leant back on the table in surprise. Her cheeks had gone a beautiful rosy colour and she shuffled slightly on her feet.

"Good luck today," She said. She flicked her wand and the box disappeared. She looked at James for a moment shyly then disappeared back into the dorm room. James felt like jumping for joy and dancing around the common room but he was frozen in shock and surprise. His heart was racing and he felt the adrenaline pumping through his blood. Slowly he gained movement in his hand and he raised his hand to his lips. This had been a dream. It had to be. Lily had said two things that James only ever dreamed about. She would never say them in real life. She would never kiss him and she would never have responded to his kiss! Not in a million years. He ran up to his room and pushed Sirius out of bed.

"James, you -"

"Hey, Padfoot, hit me," James said to him.

"What?" Sirius asked as he stumbled sleepily to his feet.

"Punch me in the face,"

"Why?" Sirius asked. He rubbed his eyes then looked at James strangely, "You've lost your mind."

"No, Lily just kissed me, you need to hit me to prove I'm dreaming," Sirius' eyes went wide, his fist clenched and he hit James, "OW!!"

"Don't say things like that about her," Sirius said, "I know you want her to but-"

"No, I'm serious," James said, "She kissed me, right here," James pointed to his cheek. Sirius looked at him sceptically, "Then I kissed her and she actually responded! She kissed me back!"

"I don't know, Prongs, Lily's got a boyfriend and she's not one to cheat," Sirius said.

"I'm not joking Padfoot, you can go and ask her!"

"I'll find out for myself. Are you sure you didn't just fall asleep in the common room," Sirius asked.

"Really sure!" James said. Sirius looked at him shrewdly then grinned.

James' optimism didn't last long though. He had thought that he could just go up to Lily and she'd be welcoming and lovely but he found that before the Quidditch match she seemed to be trying to avoid him. At the lunch table She'd been arguing with Mary over something. James would have taken it seriously if it wasn't for the huge grin on Mary's face. When James approached Lily gave Mary a cold look then left the hall.

"Wait till I tell Hiba!" Mary called after her.

"Hi Lily," James said as they passed. Lily paused for a moment and gave him a quick smile.

"Hi James," She said before disappearing away again.

"You may have been right for once," Sirius said as he noted Lily's peculiar behaviour. Fortunately, probably for the whole of Gryffindor, Lily was at the match. James felt a sense of relief when he knew that she was watching. The kiss hadn't completely driven her away then. James flew into the air with his team and took his place next to Georgina Brown and Ignatius Polly. They hovered in the air and glared at the Slytherins. They were a slimy lot as usual and sneered at the Gryffindors.

"Ready to lose?" asked the captain, Percius Yogel. James just smiled. With Lily there he couldn't be beaten. He knew it. Madame Hooch blew the whistle and James caught the ball. He immediately threw it to Georgina who shot down the Quidditch pitch. She was flanked by James and Ignatius and as they approached the goal she passed quickly to Ignatius, who passed to James. James threw the ball at the goal and it went in.

"That's probably the fastest goal I've seen scored in a long time!" shouted the commentator. James and his team flew back down the pitch. Slytherin shot down quickly with the Quaffle but Karlyly was already hitting a bludger straight at his head. James leant forwards on the broom and felt his heart leap at the sudden burst of speed. He saw Matthews going into a dive from fifty feet in the air. James on had a second to watch because he was nearly hit by a Bludger. He rolled in mid air and intercepted the quaffle that was being passed around below him. He did a sharp turn and shot down the pitch. He passed to Georgina who passed it back to him as some Slytherins tried to knock her off her broom. James glanced to see if they had hurt her but all he could see was a concussed Slytherin lying on the ground. James smirked and did a turn to avoid a Slytherin chaser. The Slytherin beaters now appeared to have control of the bludgers and as James approached the goals Georgina and Ignatius had been forced to hang back. James glanced at the chasers who flanked him. He scowled, this wasn't going to be good. Suddenly they peeled away and the beaters hit the bludgers at him from both sides. James saw them both coming as he neared the goal posts. Only a few feet to go now. The Bludgers reached his broom at exactly the same time but as they came James decided to do something incredibly stupid. He jumped up onto his broom so his feet were on the shaft and as the bludgers reached his broom he launched himself off the broom and towards the goal posts. He looked back to see the bludgers pass each other, one where his head had been and one where his chest had been.

James was flying through the air and he felt a rush of adrenaline as he knew what it was like to fly without a broom. He straightened himself and managed to fly through a goalpost but his foot got caught on the ring. Suddenly the feeling of flying was gone and James swung downwards into the post. He winced as he hit the post hard and then wrapped his arms around them before he fell down.

"SOME AMAZING FLYING BY JAMES POTTER!" said the commentator, "AND MATTHEWS HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WIN ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TO NOTHING!" The boos from Slytherin was covered up by the cheering from the other houses. James didn't have time to notice as he let himself head first down the post.

"Need any help?" asked Yasmine as she flew over.

"Yeah, that would be great," James said. Yasmine offered him her hand and she swung him onto her broom. The broom seemed suddenly weighted down and Yasmine struggled to keep it up.

"Sorry, my broom is designed for light fliers," She said as she flew down in a circle.

"It's alright, did you see where my broom went?" James asked. Yasmine shrugged. The win was suddenly not so important anymore.

"You've got to keep track of your brooms. Isn't that your fifth one since you started?"

"One broom every year," James said. Yasmine laughed and as they reached the ground a bludger came out of nowhere and collided with James' head.

The stands went quiet. Lily hadn't seen who'd done it but James lay on the grass with his team around him. Suddenly Madame Hooch turned and pointed at a beater.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? DETENTION!" She screamed. Lily turned and bolted down the stairs. She ran towards the Gryffindor Quidditch team and tried to get through. Lily's heart was pounding in her chest. She had no time to be confused about why. All she knew was that she needed to know if James was alright.

"James!" She said. Yasmine turned to look at her slightly surprised.

"He's alright, just knocked out," She said. Lily didn't feel that much better and wouldn't until she saw him. Yasmine saw the look on her face and smiled, "best not to check here, it would look suspicious if you aren't his girlfriend," Lily raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded, "See you in the hospital wing later." Lily managed to find Sirius, Mary, Remus and Peter.

"Is he alright?" Sirius asked.

"Yasmine said that he's just been knocked out but-" Lily glanced involuntarily over at James. She didn't know what had been going through her. She'd actually started to be attracted to James. The kiss that morning had thrown her completely she wanted to avoid James until she had it figured out in her head but the Quidditch game had made Lily want to hit him. The idiot had been too reckless jumping off his broom.

"He'll be alright, he's had worse injuries," Peter said as he gave Lily a hug.

"I'm not worried," She said as she let go of him.

"Of course you're not," Sirius said with a knowing smile.

"It's just, how could he be so inconsiderate! On my birthday!" Lily said hotly. She glanced at the others and they were all smirking. "Oh for gods sake!" She made her way up to the castle without them. If they were just going to mock her then she'd just leave them on their own. She made her way slowly to the hospital wing. She didn't know what she'd say to him when she saw him. She had started to feel things for him and she didn't want to. This was James Potter. The boy who'd terrorised her all through school and competed with her. The arrogant little arsehole was now, in her mind, the being that almost embodied perfection.

Lily turned down a hidden passage and leant against the wall. There was also Mo to consider. They hadn't seen each other very much recently and Lily had a big hunch that he may be cheating on her. She closed her eyes for a moment and let herself slide to the floor as she thought about things. Above the noise she heard a shuffling noise. She looked to the side and saw Snape. She drew her wand, stood up and pointed it at him.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked

"Short cut," He said as he pointed down the hall, "You care for Potter don't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You were the first one down to the pitch today," Snape said.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Lily said, "Just go Snape," She said darkly.

"Be careful with him,"

"I said go!" Lily said. Snape put his hands in his pockets and hunched over slightly. He looked as though he wanted to say something more but just moved on. Lily waited until he'd disappeared before she went up to the hospital wing.

James had woken up but he had a rather large bruise on the side of his head. He looked slightly drunk but that was probably his concussion. When he saw Lily he brightened up considerably.

"We'll leave you for a while," Yasmine said with a smile. She nudged the rest of the team out of the hospital wing and left them alone.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked as she leant against the bed.

"A lot better now that you're here," James said. Lily watched his hand twitch and took it in hers.

"Don't do that again?" Lily said.

"Do what? Jump off the broom or get hit with a bludger?" James asked with a smirk, "Did I worry you?"

"No," Lily said quickly. Lily sat on the bed next to him. She looked at him looking dopey without his glasses on. It felt comfortable just being with him. Her worries were slowly disappearing.

"Alright, I'll try not to do anything like that in the future," He said. He sat up and started swaying.

"Lie down," Lily said as she got up and helped him back down.

"No, I want to-"

"Lie down!" Lily said as she pushed him down. James laughed and nodded.

"Yes mother,"

"I'm not your mum," Lily said with a smirk.

"Well, you're not anything else to me," He said with a cheeky smile, "it's all, 'Do your homework,' 'Be quiet,'"

"No, that's not all I say to you," Lily said, "I also insult you," She brushed aside some of James' hair from his face but it just fell back to where it had been. She tried again but it fell back.

"It doesn't do what you want it to, ever," James said as he put his hands behind his head.

"You're loving this," Lily said as she ran her fingers over his face.

"Today has been a fantastic day for me," James said. Lily felt herself blush and she quickly put her hands in her lap.

"Not so good for me," Lily said.

"Allow me to improve it," James said as he pushed himself up on his elbows.

"No, lie down," Lily said as she tried to push James down. James caught her arm and pulled her towards him. Her lips met his and he put his arms around her. Lily's insides melted and she felt that spark that people spoke about when you kissed someone. She put one of her arms around James and deepened the kiss. When they broke apart Lily looked at James. She thought it must be the kiss because he was more beautiful the he'd ever looked before. James smiled up at her and brushed some hair behind her ear.

"Oh, sorry, bad time," said Sirius behind her. Lily sat up quickly and looked at her friends. They were all grinning broadly. "And all this time I thought you were lying about that kiss this morning!" Sirius said.

"You kissed James?" Mary asked.

"Um," Lily said. She knew she was going bright red, "I'll see you guys later," she said quickly. She didn't want to be under this scrutiny at all. James took her hand and pulled her back.

"Where are you going?" James asked.

"I have to see Mo," Lily said quietly. She left the hospital wing as quickly as she could. She didn't go to see Mo but instead went to the Gryffindor tower and hid in her bed. Her mind was buzzing with thoughts about what she should do. Two kisses in one day with a boy who wasn't her boyfriend. Muffin jumped up onto the bed and put her front two paws on Lily's leg.

"What shall I do Muffin?" She asked, "I should probably dump Mo, but I don't want to go out with James, well, I do now but-" Muffin just looked up at Lily with wide green eyes, "I wish Hiba was here," She said with a sigh, "cause you can't tell me anything can you?" Lily asked as she lifted Muffin into the air. Muffin mewed and licked Lily's nose. Lily let Muffin down in her lap and let the cat curl up to sleep. Lily fell back onto her pillows.

* * *

When Lily woke up it must have been late afternoon. Muffin was curled up in her arms and her head was resting on the pillow next to Lily. Lily lifted the sleepy Muffin off her arms. Muffin gave a mew of protest and immediately curled up under the covers when Lily let her down on the bed again. Lily made her way down to the common room. Her stomach was starting to protest with lack of food. She saw Sirius, Remus, Peter and Mary sitting by the fire laughing about something they were looking at. It looked like a magazine or newspaper of some sort. Lily decided to ignore them and made her way down to the great hall. She still felt rather tired when she arrived and sat down. She saw James Potter sitting on his own a few seats away. He turned to look at her but she looked away.

"Hey!" Mo said as he sat down next to her, "How is the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts?" He asked.

"Tired," Lily said honestly, "It hasn't been a particularly good birthday,"

"It's your birthday today?" Mo asked. Lily turned to look at him in shock.

"I told you yesterday!" Lily said.

"When?" Mo asked.

"When we were on patrol," Lily said. Mo grinned broadly.

"Well, we were on patrol, and we don't usually get very far on patrol," Mo said. Lily looked at him.

"Mo, you left half way," Lily said.

"Yes well," Mo glanced around.

"Mo, I think we need to go on a break," Lily said.

"What?" Mo asked, "why?"

"Because you don't seem to care much about me," Lily said. Her voice was louder then she meant it to be. A few Gryffindors turned to look at her.

"What?" Mo asked, "Of course I care about you,"

"Remember when I was attacked by the Slytherins?" Lily asked. Mo nodded, "I know you lied to me when you said you came to visit me. When you supposedly came to visit me I was with James Potter. He came to see if I was alright and he stayed with me to protect me. Where were you?" Mo looked at James Potter.

"You've been cheating on me with Potter?" Mo asked as he pointed at James. James looked up when he heard his name.

"Until today, no," Lily said.

"What do you mean 'until today'?" Mo asked her.

"Well, James has been offering me more then you are giving me," Lily said, "Besides, he gave me a really beautiful present." Lily couldn't help but smile slightly.

"You bitch," Mo was about to hit her but his arm froze. Lily glanced past Mo at James. His wand was out. Lily inched away and climbed over the table to be on James' side.

"Mo, I don't think this is working," Lily said. James released the spell on Mo's arm and Mo swung at empty air. Mo glared at them.

"Fine," He said. He tugged at his robes and looked around, "You'll be sorry for cheating on me Lily." He returned to the Ravenclaw table and sat down.

"What was that about?" James asked as he moved over.

"Nothing," Lily said, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah," James said, "Sorry about earlier,"

"It's alright," Lily said. She wanted to be near James but at the same time she wanted to be away from him. James hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off and then turned to look at him.

"Um, Slughorn is throwing a Christmas party and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me," Lily said.

"Is that a date Lily?" James asked. Lily stared at the pie on her plate.

"Consider it a practice for the wedding," Lily said.

"Alright, anything I need?"

"It's formal, so you'll need dress robes," Lily said.

"When is it?"

"Day before Christmas holidays."

"I'd love to come," James said. Lily saw him starting to move for a kiss but he seemed to think better of it. Lily relaxed slightly, "Are you alright?"

"I miss Hiba," Lily said, "I've got so much going on in my head and no one to talk to about it,"

"What about Mary?"

"She doesn't know me nearly as well as Hiba does," Lily said.

"Me?" James asked hopefully.

"I'm just getting to know you. I've just started trusting you with the small secrets. I'm not ready for you to know me properly yet," Lily said.

"Thanks," James said sarcastically.

"No I mean-"

"Don't worry," James said with a grin. Lily hit him and turned back to her plate. She heard James laughing next to her. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade later?" James asked.

"We're not allowed," Lily said.

"I know a different way out," James told her, "and no one will ever know that we left." Lily looked at him sceptically for a moment, "Come with me." He got up and took Lily's hand in his. Lily followed James back to Gryffindor Tower and followed him up to his room. He rummaged through his trunk for his invisibility cloak, which he stuffed in the pocket of his jacket and a piece of folded up parchment.

"Get a coat," He said. Lily nodded and went to get a wonderfully warm white coat that her parents had bought her the previous year for Christmas. She met James in the common room, where he was saying something to Sirius.

"I'll talk to you about it later," He said when he saw Lily, "Come on," He said as he nodded out of the door. Lily saw the curious looks on their friend's faces. Lily wasn't sure why she was going to Hogsmeade with James. She just seemed to be doing it automatically, though she did feel like getting out of the castle. She followed James to a corridor that was deserted and he threw the cloak over them. He got out the parchment and tapped his wand on it.

"I promise I am up to no good," He said. Lily's jaw nearly dropped when she saw a map of Hogwarts appear on it.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"A map," James replied. Lily watched the hundreds of little dots walking around in Hogwarts and in the grounds. She saw them in the second floor corridor, their friends in the Gryffindor Common room.

"Where did you get this?"

"Made it last year," James said, "most useful thing I own, after the cloak," He smiled at Lily. Lily was still in awe.

"You did this?"

"With some help from Sirius, Remus and Peter," James said almost arrogantly. Lily glanced at him and James grinned, "Come on," Before she knew it Lily was walking in Hogsmeade. The air was clean and crisp and the sun was starting to go down already.

"Explain to me one thing, James," Lily said as they walked towards Honeydukes. She turned so she was walking backwards and looking at James.

"What's that?" James asked.

"Why am I here?" Lily asked

"Because you love me?" James asked hopefully. Lily smirked.

"No, really? Why did you bring me out here?" Lily asked.

"Because you've had a crap birthday so far," James said, "and I want to make it better before the day is through. Come on, lets get to the Three Broomsticks," He said. They went into the pub and Lily was suddenly hot as the heat from the building hit her. She took off her coat and looked around. The pub wasn't very busy and she instantly recognised the girl by the fire.

"Hiba!" Lily said happily. She ran over and engulfed her friend in the biggest hug.

"Lily. I've missed you so much!" Hiba said, "I only got the message from James this morning and I came here as quickly as I could."

"James?" Lily asked as she turned to look at him. James smiled

"When you're ready to go back tell me, I'll be over there," James said. He pointed to the other side of the pub

"No, you can sit with us if you want to," Lily said.

"I'll be over there," He said with a smile. He leant forwards and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Lily smiled and nodded.

"Things have certainly changed at Hogwarts since I left," Hiba said as she watched them.

"What?" Lily asked as they sat down.

"You and James Potter?" Hiba asked.

"Well, you know," Lily said, "You left and he was the only one who really looked after me." Hiba smiled and then grinned.

"What about Mo?"

"Dumped him about an hour ago," Lily said.

"Ah," Hiba said. Lily told her about everything that had happened since she'd left. There was one month's worth of general gossip and a month's worth of personal problems to tell Hiba. Then it was Hiba's turn.

"Seher's alright but it's hard. I'm sort of on my own with her and I don't get out much," She said.

"Where is she now?"

"Your parents are looking after her," Hiba said, "Yeah, I've been talking to them a lot. They've been a fantastic help to me. As soon as I told your mum about it she came straight to my house to help me,"

"They never told me," Lily said.

"They didn't want to worry you," Hiba said. "Your sister's future husband sounds like a right prick. Your parents don't like him much,"

"So they've told me," Lily said. "Is he really that bad?" Hiba nodded. Lily laughed, "The wedding is going to be fun,"

"I bet. He already hates you. Please tell me you're taking someone fun to the wedding?" Hiba asked. Lily looked at James involuntarily. Hiba smiled again.

"He's staying at mine for a few days, over the wedding," Lily said, "mum and dad insist on it,"

"I'll come and save you from the traumatic time you'd have," Hiba said dramatically.

"I don't know whether I can trust myself with him," Lily whispered to Hiba, "Every time I see him now I want to kiss him or just hold his hand or anything! If he spends a few days at my house then I'm going to die!"

"Why?"

"I'm not doing anything in front of my parents!" Lily said. Hiba laughed so hard at this statement that Lily saw a few people turn to look at him, including James. Lily put her hands over Hiba's mouth.

"I've missed you so much!" Hiba said as she clutched her side.

"It wasn't that funny," Lily said with a slight pout.

"I really haven't had anything to laugh about recently. That's the funniest thing I've heard in weeks!" Hiba said. Once she'd calmed down slightly Lily saw tears in her eyes. "If he cares for you he'll go home after the wedding. He wont make you feel uncomfortable," Hiba said. Lily looked over at James. He was flicking through a magazine at the moment. Lily smiled involuntarily and then turned to Hiba as she continued with updating Lily about what was going on in the real world. They must have spent hours talking because James walked over and had to interrupt them.

"Rosemerta wants us to leave, she wants to close up," He said. Lily nodded and they all left the pub. Lily linked arms with Hiba and they continued their talk as they went to the Shrieking shack. James hung back and let them talk on their own. Hiba paused when she realised where they were.

"Are you going in there?" Hiba asked.

"Yeah, why?" James asked.

"It's haunted," Hiba said, "Things live in there,"

"Actually, that's only Remus," Lily said.

"Lily!" James said.

"What? Hiba's not going to tell anyone," Lily said. James looked uncomfortable with it but he let her tell Hiba Remus' secret.

"Really? I never would have known!" Hiba said. Lily looked at Hiba. There was something in her voice that sounded off. James noticed it too.

"You don't like werewolves don't you?"

"No," Hiba said, "It's just that-" Hiba bit her lip, "It's what I've been brought up to believe. I'll try and be the same with Remus but it's hard to believe."

"Those are only stories," Lily said, "A werewolf's personality is not reflected in their human form,"

"I know, I studied defence against the dark arts as well," Hiba said.

"You're uncomfortable with it," James said defensively.

"A little yeah," Hiba said. James relaxed slightly. Lily looked at him curiously. When he noticed her look he explained himself.

"At least she's honest straight off," James said. Lily nodded.

"Well, we have to go," Lily said. Hiba nodded. They hugged each other tightly as they said goodbye.

"I'll see you soon," Hiba said to Lily. James took Lily's hand and led her into the Shrieking Shack and they made their way back to Hogwarts.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:- dont usually update so quickly but due to Peer pressure i've updated to get one of my friends off my back! Anyway, i hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

The Christmas Holidays had finally arrived and Lily was almost shaking with impatience to get home.

"Only a few more minutes, Lily," her mother said as they turned the corner into their road.

"I want to show you what I can do, hurry!" Lily said.

"I thought you could just disappear and appear somewhere else?" Her dad said, "We'll meet you at the house," He said as he glanced back at her. Lily looked at her parents and smiled.

"Ok," She disapparated and appeared in her living room. There was a loud scream as Lily surprised Petunia. Lily turned around and smiled at her. She was with a big man who appeared to have no neck.

"You must be Vernon?" Lily asked. His face was dark red and he was glaring at Lily.

"GET OUT!" Petunia screamed at her. Lily laughed and skipped out of the room but not before she cast a charm that made it rain little purple flowers. Lily ran to the door and watched her parents driving into the driveway. Her mother opened the door and ran to Lily.

"That was amazing! What else can you do?"

"What do you want me to do?" Lily asked with a wide grin. Petunia stormed out of the living room and pointed an accusing finger at Lily.

"You!" Petunia said so loudly Lily had to take a step back, "Go in there and stop whatever it is you are doing! I don't want any freak stuff happening in this house!"

"Tuney, this isn't your house," Lily said.

"Don't call me Tuney! Only family can call me that and you stopped being my sister the moment you went to that freak school," Petunia said, "I only invited you to the wedding because both Vernon's parents and our parents wanted us to invite you," Lily looked at her sister. Petunia had always hated her. It was fun to tease her until she said something hurtful, like just now.

"Petunia!" Their mother said, "Never talk to your sister like that!"

"No, it's ok mum," Lily said, "I'll help dad with my stuff," She walked out to the car where her dad was pulling out her bags out of the car. Lily took out her wand, glanced around then flicked it at her stuff. Her dad jumped in surprise as they disappeared.

"Sorry I scared you dad," Lily said. Her dad smiled at her.

"It's fine, just warn me next time," He looked at Lily and frowned, "Are you alright?" He said as he put a hand on her arm.

"It's Tuney," Lily said.

"Don't let Petunia get to you," He said, "She's under a lot of stress right now,"

"Because getting married is that stressful!" Lily said doubtfully.

"When you get married, you'll understand," He said as he locked the door and led Lily inside.

"Lily!" Her mother shouted from the living room. Lily turned to look at her father. Lily went to the living room where there was now at least two inches of flowers on the floor.

"Mum?" Her mother had a huge grin on her face

"Did you make this happen?" she asked as she caught some flowers.

"Um, yes," Lily got out her wand and stopped the spell. The flowers stopped falling and with another flick of her wand the flowers all disappeared.

"AAAAHHH!!!" Petunia screamed as the flowers disappeared.

"Oh shut up," Lily said.

"You FR-" Lily pointed her wand at Petunia and raised an eyebrow. Petunia shut up and went white. Lily made a bunch of roses pop out of the end of the end. She started laughing as Petunia nearly fainted.

"That's enough girls. Lily I'll make you dinner. Petunia, are you staying for dinner or are you going to go out?" their mother asked.

"I'm going out for a while," Petunia squeaked.

"We're going to a nice little restaurant by the river," Vernon said. He looked as though someone had stuck a bag of dung under his nose.

"Have fun, love birds," Lily said as she skipped out of the room. Lily joined her mother in the kitchen and summoned a few slices of bread onto the breadboard. "How long have Petunia and Vernon been seeing each other? She never said anything about it in the summer," Lily said. Her mum took the bread as if it was nothing unusual to see magic happening around the house.

"Remember she spent a lot of time in London?" Lily nodded, "Well, he's the reason why. They met at uni or something and they've been seeing each other for a few months now, nearly a year actually," Her mother told her. Lily nodded and leant on the counter, "So what's happening at school? Hiba's told me some stuff but I'd rather hear it from you," Lily shrugged.

"I don't know. Nothing much," Lily said. Her mum gave her a suggestive look, "What?"

"What about this James boy?" Lily hesitated. That was a difficult question. James and Lily's relationship now was difficult to describe. One or two nights a week their Prefect patrols usually ended in a secluded corridor somewhere. The Slug club Christmas party had ended up with Lily and James finding themselves in Hogsmeade getting slightly tipsy on fire whisky. Lily didn't really know what was happening between them. Were they a couple? Lily didn't think so. Lily would have called it lust but she was happy just talking to James about things now, even though she still hadn't told him much about her family.

"He's alright," Lily said, "He's looking forwards to coming here,"

"Really? Have you told him much about us?"

"No, not really. I think that's why he's excited. He's fancied me since…oh, I don't know, third or fourth year," Lily said as she summoned a glass towards her and filled it with butterbeer from the end of her wand, "Here, mum, try this," She handed the glass to her mother. Lily flicked her wand and the glass became nice and cold.

"Is it wise to let him come round?"

"You don't have to worry about him. He'll only do anything if I let him," Lily said with a small smile. Her mother put a plate of sandwiches and some salad down in front of Lily and saw Lily's expression. "What?" Lily asked when she noticed her mother staring at her.

"Nothing," She said, "Have your sandwiches then get to bed. It's been a long day,"

"Yeah," Lily said quietly to herself. She'd had a rather good day, if she excluded being shouted at by Petunia. The train ride home had been spent mostly with James and Muffin. She could still feel James' lips on her own. Her smile grew and she ate her sandwich as her mother told her to.

James looked up at the door in front of him. He knew it was Lily's house, he'd been here before but he was still nervous about knocking on the door. He felt the urge to get Sirius and go and tease Snape but that wouldn't make him feel any better about having to meet Lily's parents. He tugged at his hair to try and tame it then knocked on the door. He waited for a few minutes then the door opened. A woman who resembled Lily with brown eyes opened the door.

"Hi, I'm James Potter," James said.

"Oh yes, come in. Lily's not here at the moment," She said as she let him in, "How did you get here?"

"Um, the bus," James said.

"Oh, can you not apparate like Lily?" Mrs. Evans asked. She led him up the stairs.

"No, she's a little bit older then me, I'll be able to use magic in a few days time though,"

"Really? When's your birthday?"

"The Twenty eighth," James said. Mrs. Evans stopped and looked at him.

"Really? Are you sure you want to be at a wedding that day instead of at home with your family?" She asked. James shrugged.

"Lily needs me," James said simply. She raised an eyebrow but continued up the stairs.

"This will be your room while you stay here with us," She said as she showed him to a room just along the hallway. It was a nice room that was decorated tastefully and the bed looked incredibly comfy.

"Thanks Mrs. Evans."

"Call me Sophie," She said, "When you've settled down, come downstairs and I'll fix you up something to eat. The bathroom is just through there, that's Lily's room there," she pointed to the opposite room. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I'm good. Thank you Sophie," James said. "Oh, no, there is something. Do you know when Lily will be back?"

"I'm not sure," Sophie looked at her watch, "She should have been back an hour ago,"

"Oh, where is she?"

"I believe she's at Hiba's. She's been there a lot," Sophie said.

"Alright. Well I'm just going to get sorted in here," He said as he pointed his thumb at the room. Sophie nodded and went downstairs. James went to put his bag down on the bed then looked around the room. It was a nice house and Lily's mum seemed to be nice. He walked across the hallway and peeked into Lily's bedroom. It had wonderful white wallpaper and was immaculately tidy, except her desk. Her desk was covered in textbooks that were opened and half written notes. There was a pile of letters next to them and a newspaper that looked as though it had been discarded as soon as she'd got it. James made his way further into the room and saw a few photos around the room. He saw the ones he expected, Lily and Hiba at Hogwarts, Lily and her family but there was also one he didn't expect. There was a photo of the Marauders all joking about in the snow. James recognised it as it had only been taken a few weeks ago. There was a loud crack behind him and he jumped in surprise.

"James," Lily said, "What are you doing here?" James turned to see Lily. She was as beautiful as ever. She looked rather windswept and her cheeks were cold from the winter wind.

"Um, I was-" James tried to think of a reason why he was in Lily's room.

"Sorry I'm late," Lily said, "I went out for a walk with Hiba and Seher and we sort of lost track of the time,"

"You look beautiful today," James said honestly. Lily smiled.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad either," Lily replied. They stood in silence for a while on their own then Lily took off her jumper. James bit his lip as he saw her stomach.

"So, where's your sister?" James asked. Lily shrugged.

"No idea," Lily said, "Have you met my family yet?"

"Only your mum. She's a really nice person," Lily smiled and took James' hand.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to my dad," She said. She led James downstairs and walked out into the garden. After a brief introduction to Lily's mum James soon came face to face with Mr. Evans. He was in the greenhouse trimming back some branches on a few of the plants when Lily and James both walked in. When he saw James he crossed his arms and glared at James. James felt his stomach start flipping. If he didn't get along with Lily's family then this wasn't going to be an enjoyable stay.

"Dad, this is James Potter, James, my dad," Lily said. She turned with a smile to her dad.

"So this is Potter," He asked gruffly.

"Dad," Lily warned.

"What are your intentions?" He asked, "What is your interest in my daughter?"

"I…uh…" James stammered. He looked at Lily. She crossed her arms and looked at her dad tiredly. When James turned back to Mr. Evans he saw a smirk on his face then he laughed.

"Welcome to our home James," He said. He held out his hand and James took his hesitantly. James looked at Lily, who was smirking slightly, "He's better then Snape," He said to Lily.

"Much better then Snape," James said as he looked at Lily, "I've been telling her for years to just leave Snape alone," He said as he turned to Mr. Evans.

"Really?" Mr. Evans asked, he looked to Lily, "And you didn't listen to him until this year,"

"I told you why I'm not friends with Snape any more," Lily said, "anyway, we'll be in the house," Lily took James' hand and pulled him out of the greenhouse and into the freezing cold weather outside. It was only a few feet to house but when they entered the house Lily was shivering.

"Here," James said as he took off his jumper and handed it to Lily.

"I'm alright James," She said as he tried to get it on her. She laughed as they fought against each other. Eventually James managed to overpower Lily and pulled the jumper over her head.

"Got you," He said with a grin. Lily laughed and put her arms through the sleeves. She looked so funny wearing the jumper that was at least four sizes too big for her. The sleeves were much longer then Lily's arms but she let them dangle as she crossed her arms in mock anger.

"Now look at me Potter!" She said. Her mouth cracked into a smirk.

"I'm sorry," He said, "Now why don't you be a nice hostess and get me a drink," James asked as he came closer to her. Lily caught his hands in her covered ones and moved away with a laugh.

"Alright," She said. She leant in to kiss him but then ducked away when James expected their lips to meet.

"Hey!" He shouted as he chased her into the kitchen. Lily's mother, Sophie, had just finished putting a plate of sandwiches on the table.

"Careful!" She said as Lily darted past her. James came to a stop before he collided into her and gave her a smile.

"Sorry Sophie," He said. Sophie shook her head and James turned to look at Lily who stood on the other side of the table and stuck out her tongue. "You are going to pay later," He said.

"Oh yeah?" She said, "You've got to catch me first, and I can apparate and use magic, something you can't do yet!" She teased. James sat down and ate his first sandwich. Lily sat down opposite him and leant on an elbow. She looked at James comfortably until her mum called her.

"How's Hiba?" Sophie asked.

"She's alright I suppose, Seher's not that much better though. She keeps asking for her parents," Lily said, "Before I was going to leave she started playing up so we took her for a walk. Fortunately that calmed her down. I might have to go over a little bit later to just check on her again."

"I'm sure Hiba will be alright without you for a while. She managed a few months without you," Sophie said as she gave Lily and James a cup of tea each.

"I know but still-"

"Lily," James said. Lily looked at James, "Your mum said not to worry," Lily glared at him then smiled.

"Fine," She said.

Later after much bickering in front of Lily's mum, Lily led the way to a small playground a few hundred yards from their house.

"I used to come here all the time," Lily said, "When I first discovered I was magical," She said. James felt contented inside. Lily now had a habit, even at school, to hold his hand when they were alone. Every time she did James felt complete. It was like they were made for each other. The cold had made Lily's cheeks go red already and she huddled next to James for more warmth.

"It's…quaint," James said as he saw the small playground. It was empty and one of the swings seemed to have come off.

"This is the beginning of the bad side of town, Snape's side,"

"Snape lives here too?" James asked innocently. He didn't want to give away that he'd been in this area a lot during the summer holidays.

"Yeah, over near the river," Lily said. She jumped over the fence and sat in a swing. James grinned and ran back a few meters. "What are you doing?" Lily asked him.

"Watch!" He said. He started running and as he came to the fence he launched himself up into the air. He cleared the fence and he should have landed perfectly on the other side but he went crashing into the floor.

"James!" Lily said in alarm as she ran to his side. James, feeling rather confused, turned to look at the fence. He understood why he didn't land properly when he saw Snape and Mulciber on the other side of the fence. Mulciber had his wand drawn and was laughing. Snape was laughing as well and they were congratulating each other. James touched his nose and felt it bleeding before he got up with Lily's help.

"Don't do anything stupid," Lily said urgently to him. She held onto his arm as he went to the fence.

"Nice one guys," He said to them. The Slytherins stopped laughing and nodded.

"Showing off for your new girlfriend?" Mulciber jeered.

"She's not my girlfriend," James said. James saw Snape's eyes narrow slightly at the idea. Lily took his hand.

"Come on James, just ignore them," Lily said, "We don't want anything to happen outside of school," She added quietly.

"What? Are you scared mudblood?" Mulciber asked.

"No, I'm just thinking of what's best for you," Lily said, "You two against us. That's slightly unfair," James grinned and put his arm around Lily in pride.

"Come on Mulciber, they're not worth it. Lets leave the blood traitor and the mudblood," Snape said before Mulciber could say anything. James felt Lily relaxing under his arm. Once they'd disappeared around a corner Lily turned to James.

"Sit," She said

"What?"

"Sit," She said. She pushed James onto a seat and sat next to him. She looked around and then took out her wand. With a flick the nosebleed stopped and Lily had cleaned up the blood on James' nose.

"Were you impressed?" James asked.

"With what? The lack of fighting or your spectacular dive into the floor?" Lily asked with a smile. She tucked her wand into her coat.

"Well, both?" He asked.

"Yes and yes," Lily said.

"Really?" James asked surprised.

"Yep," Lily said, "It means that I get to do this," She moved closer and kissed James. James felt his body tingle as usual and pulled Lily closer. They parted for a moment and James looked into Lily's bright green eyes, which were alive with passion at that moment.

"Lily, go out with me?" He asked her for what seemed like the billionth time in his life.

"Alright," She said with a grin. She kissed him again but James pushed her away.

"What?" He asked.

"I said alright," She said with a smile. James was speechless. He was expecting the answer but it was still a shock when it came, "Don't look so surprised. You should have asked before the holidays and you would have still got the answer you were looking for," Lily said. James tried to say something but his mouth just opened and closed like he was a fish. Lily laughed and closed his mouth with her hand and put a gloved finger on his lips.

"Just kiss me," She said to him. James nodded and pulled Lily towards him. He kissed her more passionately then he'd allowed himself before.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: sorry for the major delay. I've been swamped with work. Being in final year of uni i've got insane amounts of work but now i'm nearing the end of my exams so i finally found some time to post this chapter that's been lingering on my harddrive for a while now. Haven't proof read it that i can remember so sorry for any spelling/grammar/story mistakes.**

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**Chapter 12**

"So why are you here instead of at the rehearsal dinner?" Sirius asked Lily as he stuck a marshmallow on the end of a metal spike he'd just conjured up. He handed a marshmallow to Remus and Peter as well. Remus ate his straight away while Peter poked his on the end of his own skewer

"I'd rather not talk about it," Lily muttered as she hugged her legs. Hiba looked up at her from where she lay on her stomach, toasting her own marshmallow.

"It was that bad?" Hiba asked. Hiba looked to James for confirmation. They were all at Hiba's house enjoying a small get together and to keep Hiba company. Lily liked seeing them all again but it couldn't alleviate the horrid feeling of emptiness that was growing bigger inside her with each passing minute.

"Bad would be a good way of putting it," James said. He put his arms around Lily and hugged her tightly. Lily felt some of her anger and hurt fizzle away but she still felt the urge to cry. She put her head against his chest and sighed.

"I thought you and your sister got along?" Sirius asked.

"You would," Hiba said, "you've never been close to Lily."

"So all the times we joked about you and your sister," Remus said, "most of it was true?"

"It hurt me more then you realise," Lily said.

"Yeah, you should have told us before," James said, "Or we would never had joked about it," he said to her.

"That's the past. You know what it's like now," Lily said as she wiped her eyes. Hiba frowned and gave her skewer to Sirius. She stood up and went to hug Lily.

"What happened exactly?" Hiba asked. Lily shook her head, "Will you excuse us?" Hiba asked as she pulled Lily to her feet. James nodded and let Lily go. Lily didn't want to leave his embrace but Hiba was slightly stronger then her at that moment. Hiba dragged her through the house to the kitchen.

"Lily, you know you can tell me," Hiba said.

"I just didn't want to say anything in front of Sirius," Lily said. She stifled a sob, "Tuney and I were just bickering like we always do and as a joke I turned her wedding dress bright pink. She turned around and grabbed my wand and-" Lily put her hands in her pockets and closed them around the two wand fragments that she had put in there. Hiba didn't push her to reveal them but the look on Hiba's face was enough. It had been such a shock when Petunia had snapped her wand. Lily didn't think a wand could break so easily! She'd fallen on it before, she'd hit it against things but a simple grab and twist had been enough to break it. As she ran her index finger along the splintered ends she could feel the unicorn hair connecting the two parts. She felt another pang in her heart as if someone close to her had just died.

"What are you going to do?" Hiba asked, "I don't know if you can get another wand that's good enough for you."

"I'm going to Diagon Alley after the wedding with James," Lily said, "It's not a designated day but James will be legal by then and he can protect me." Hiba looked at Lily then hugged her. Lily returned the hug and after a while let go.

"Try and keep your mind off it," Hiba said.

"How?" Lily asked as she helped herself to a tea cup.

"James?" Hiba asked. Lily's lips twitched slightly at his name, "So how long have you two been going out?" Hiba asked as she leant against the counter as Lily made some tea.

"Only a few days," Lily said, "But…it feels right," She said as she looked at Hiba, "Does that sound stupid?"

"No," Hiba said, "I always told you that you should give him a chance."

"When you weren't cursing him with me," Lily said with a grin. She took out another tea cup and put a spoon of sugar in it.

"You don't have sugar with your tea," Hiba said as she watched Lily.

"It's for James," Lily said with a slight blush. She felt rather self-conscious about it. When Hiba had caught Lily and James exchange a kiss on her doorstep earlier she had nearly deafened them. Later Sirius had literally jumped James and had picked Lily up, ran around with her and nearly dropped her on the table in excitement. Remus and Peter had both whooped in happiness and the three of them did some kind of strange tribal dance type thing.

"How do you know what he likes?" Hiba asked with a huge grin on her face. Lily's face grew slightly redder and she shrugged.

"He's staying at my house isn't he?" Lily asked. Hiba laughed, "He's been so lovely the last few days and he's got my parents to trust him with their lives. I think they like him more then me. Tuney hates him though, so does Vernon but that doesn't matter. He's so nice and handsome and to be honest, if this is what he's really like I can see myself settling down with him," Lily said honestly

"So you think he's the one maybe?" Hiba asked seriously. Lily was about to respond when the door opened and the boys came in.

"James, did you hear that?" Sirius asked as he transferred a burnt marshmallow to his other hand, "You're the one!" He said as he clapped James on the shoulder. Lily closed her eyes and looked away.

"Oh my god," She whispered quickly. Hiba laughed and looked at Lily.

"Oh come on Lily" Remus said with a smile, "It's nothing to be ashamed about." He clapped James on the back.

"Yeah," Lily said quickly.

"Oh ONE! Grace us with your presence!" Sirius said towards James. He fell to his knees and started bowing.

"Sirius! You'll get marshmallow all over the carpet!" Hiba said in alarm as she ran to take the gooey snacks off him. Peter joined in as well and soon James had Remus, Sirius and Peter worshipping him.

"Cut it out guys," James said. Lily glanced at him and saw him turning slightly red as well, "I said cut it out!" He said a little louder as he pushed Sirius over with his foot.

"Fine!" Sirius said as he got up, "Way to spoil some fun,"

"I found more marshmallows and some biscuits!" Hiba said quickly as she conjured the food.

"YAY!" Sirius and Peter said as they raised their arms.

"Sugar high," Hiba whispered to Lily as she left with the two boys. Remus looked at them and gave James a wink. He nudged James closer to Lily as he walked out of the door and closed it behind him.

"Sorry," James said as he walked over to Lily.

"It's alright, what did you hear?" she asked him.

"Only Hiba asking if I was the one," James said. He leant against the counter as Lily poured out the hot water, "Am I?" James asked. Lily looked at him slightly amused then put the kettle down.

"I don't know," Lily said, "I've only been dating you officially for a day."

"So? I knew you were the one the moment I set eyes on you," James said. Lily blushed slightly. She couldn't get used to these little things that James liked to whisper to her.

"Here's your tea," Lily said handing him a cup. James took it and put it down. He pulled her closer for a kiss and brushed some of her hair away.

"You know you look so beautiful when you blush like that," James said, "Just don't do it often," Lily hit him lightly and took her cup of tea.

"You guys have embarrassed me enough," she said with a smile, "come on,"

"You know they're just joking," James said as he followed her out with his tea.

"I know it's just I'm on edge at the moment," Lily said, "Until you come of age I'm not completely safe," Lily said as she left the kitchen to join the others in the living room.

"That's not true. Sirius, Remus and Hiba are of age!" James said.

"It's not the same," Lily said as they sat down on the sofa, "Its different because it's you. Why don't you turn seventeen quicker?" She said with a grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll just speed up time for your convenience," James said sarcastically. Lily laughed and sipped her tea. Just as she took a sip she realised that the others had been listening to them. She looked at Sirius who had a grin on his face, not his usual one but the knowing one that Lily found quite creepy.

"What?" Sirius asked as she stared at him, "I didn't say anything."

"Your eyes say it all, Sirius," Hiba said, "and your smile." Sirius smirked as he looked at Hiba

"Why thank you miss grown up lady person," he said. Hiba sighed.

"I don't want to be grown up," she said, "It's so dull being at home all the time. I miss Hogwarts."

"Trust me, you're not missing anything," Remus said.

"She missed the huge argument between Lily and Sarah," Peter said.

"And the time that Lily and James went to Slughorn's party together and didn't come back for the entire weekend!" Sirius said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"What!" Hiba asked. She sat up and looked at Lily, "You never told me that,"

"Um, maybe it's time for us to leave," Lily said to James quickly. James laughed slightly and let Lily drag him to his feet.

"What? No, please stay," Peter said as he pushed himself to his knees.

"Yes, we won't make fun of you anymore," Sirius said. He tried to make puppy eyes and for a moment Lily thought she saw his eyes changing slightly. She blinked a few times and when she looked back at Sirius it was normal Sirius. Remus hit him and Sirius laughed. Lily frowned slightly. Had her eyes been messing around or had Sirius' face actually changed slightly? She looked at Hiba but Hiba didn't seem to have noticed.

"Um, I'm going for a walk," Lily said quickly.

"Alright, but as long as you come back!" Hiba said as she pointed a skewer at Lily.

"And don't go out on your own!" Peter said, "There's some dodgy people about, even in Godric's Hollow."

"James is coming with me," Lily said.

"I am?" James asked, "But my tea-" A look from Lily made him shut up and follow her out of the house. Lily was surprised to see that it had been snowing while they had been at Hiba's. She liked Hiba's neighbourhood. Godric's Hollow was a lovely place, in the daytime, and it had some rather influential people living there too!

"Did you know, Dumbledore used to live here," James said as he took Lily's hand.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Him and his brother," James said, "I heard all about it from Dad."

"Is Dumbledore nice? I mean I know he is but I don't know him like you," Lily said, "You said you know him outside of school as well." James smirked and nodded.

"Yeah, I like him. He's a great man," James said, "He's already promised me that any child of mine is going straight onto the Hogwarts waiting list as soon as they're born."

"What did you do to manage that?" Lily asked.

"I retiled his roof!" James said with a laugh. Lily hit him gently and sat down on a bench that faced the pub in the middle of the village.

"You can't retile a roof!" Lily said.

"I can too! And without magic!" James said, "I'm pretty handy to have around the house." Lily felt a slight shiver going through James as they sat there. Lily shivered too. The temperature seemed to have dropped all of a sudden. Only a few degrees and it was barely noticeable but she felt it. She leant over and kissed James but for some reason it wasn't as good as usual. She didn't feel any pleasure from it. It felt as though the kiss just made her insides freeze. When Lily and James broke apart she saw James' eyes go wide.

"Dementor!" He shouted. He pulled Lily after him and ran from the spot. Lily glanced over her shoulder and through the red hair that the wind blew around her she could see the dark cloaked figure.

"What's that doing here?" Lily asked as James made for the pub but another swooped down to block their escape route.

"Lily!" came a shout from down the street. Lily turned to see Hiba's brother Ahsan and her sister Seher coming down the street.

"No! Go home!" Lily shouted but her voice was killed by the sudden appearance of another Dementor. James pulled her towards him and drew his wand. Lily felt colder and worse then she'd ever felt before.

"Think of James, think of James, think of James," She said repeatedly but she couldn't hear herself. All she saw were puffs of condensed air leaving her mouth. James tried a spell but nothing happened. He pulled her tighter and turned slightly as the three Dementors came closer. Suddenly there was an explosion of silver light and a huge silver goat ran around Lily and James. The Dementors fled. Lily was literally leaning against James otherwise she would have fallen over. Her knees didn't seem to want to work. She'd read about Dementors and their attacks but she'd never seen one in real life.

James turned to look in the direction the goat had come from. Out of the shadows of the graveyard came a rough looking man who had the same eyes as their beloved headmaster.

"What are you two doing out here?" He asked.

"We were-" James looked at Lily, who was pale in the face. She shook herself and felt some strength returning to her at James' touch.

"You should be inside, especially you," He said with a nod to Lily, "You're like a sore thumb. Stick out you do. News is that You-Know-Who is on the look out for a red haired Muggle Born who's supposed to be beautiful. He saw you, you know. In the summer." Lily thought the Dementors were bad but the news that Voldemort himself was on the look out for her was even worse. She felt her knees give way but James was there to catch her.

"You're the man who runs the Hogshead aren't you?" Lily said weakly.

"That I am, now I'll walk you home," He said, "where are you staying?"

"I just want to go home," Lily said.

"We'll take the Knight bus," James said.

"No you wont, where do you live?"

"Up north," Lily said. She gave the Barkeeper her address.

"Right, hold on you two." Lily felt slightly better at the familiarity of apparating and soon they were at her house. The Barkeeper knocked on Lily's door and her father opened it.

"May I help you?" He asked.

"You should keep a better eye on this one," the Barkeeper said as he nodded to Lily, "especially since she's a muggle born. She's the kind that people want dead. Don't let her out of the house again while she's on holiday." Lily's father looked at Lily then back at the barkeeper. Lily and James made their way into the doorway. Lily squeezed past her father and stepped into the warmth of her house.

"And who are you?" Mr. Evans said as he crossed his arms.

"Someone who just saved your daughter from a fate worse then death itself," He said. He turned and apparated away. Lily's father turned to look at Lily.

"What was he talking about?" He asked.

"Nothing, I'm going to bed," Lily said. She took James' hand but Mr. Evans slammed the door shut and called her name.

"Come here now Lily Evans!" He said. Lily froze. Her father never referred to her like that unless he was really angry. Lily slowly turned around and looked at her father.

"Dad?"

"James, could you leave me and my daughter alone for a moment?" James nodded. He gave Lily a quick kiss on the cheek and disappeared into the living room, "Who was that man?"

"He runs a bar in Hogsmeade. I think he's related to Professor Dumbledore," Lily said quietly.

"Explain to me what that man was talking about? 'She's the kind that people want dead,'" He demanded

"It's the problems in the wizarding world. Remember that attack in the subway in the summer?" Lily asked. Her father nodded, "I told you about You-Know-Who as well and his policies?" he nodded, "So I don't need to tell you any more."

"What was he talking about, a fate worse then death?"

"Um, well…" Lily licked her lips, she might as well tell him, "There are these creatures called Dementors, I told you about them. Well, three of them just cornered James and me in Godric's Hollow," Lily said.

"What? And you nearly got killed?" He snapped.

"Not exactly. You see, Dementors sort of suck out your soul," Lily said. She finished the sentence lamely.

"Why didn't you fight them off?" Her father asked. Lily pulled out the fragments of her wand.

"I didn't want to tell you," She said. Lily's father's expression softened slightly.

"What happened?"

"Petunia snapped it," Lily said sadly. She sobbed again but this time not because of her wand. She had been scared that the Dementors would have gotten her and it was just sinking in. She would never had seen her father again, or her mother. Her father sighed and hugged Lily.

"It's alright," he said as she cried, "You're alive and safe and that's all that matters," He looked at her and wiped away some tears. Lily nodded.

"It's just that…what if something happened to me. No one could protect you. Snape knows where we live and he's gone to join His side. If those Dementors had gotten me this evening then…then…" Lily's sobbing got worse. Her father hugged her and kissed her forehead.

"We'll be fine," He said, "We'll get you a new wand in a few days, is that alright?" Lily nodded, "That's my girl. Now there's an interesting thing on TV about Pandas,"

"I just feel like going to bed dad," Lily said. He nodded.

"Alright. Don't stay up too late though and try and sleep. Tomorrow's a big day," He said with a slight raise of his eyebrows, "God help me to get through it." Lily smiled despite herself.

"You'll survive," Lily said.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:-got bored with revision (there's only so much of myself i can give to being interested in genetics of cancer), so I decided to update again! was on a role this morning, 3 new chapters! woo!! will hopefully update again soon!! Enjoy**

**Thanks to Skippy Agogo who pointed out Billy Joel is the wrong era for this story.**

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**Chapter 13**

James just watched Lily for most of the wedding. He wouldn't be able to tell you what colour the bridesmaids dresses were, only that they didn't look good at all. He couldn't tell you what was the song that the bride and groom danced to or what they ate. No, that was a lie, he knew they'd eaten chocolate cake. Really nice chocolate cake! He did know that Lily was wearing a beautiful pale yellow dress with a white cardigan, she had actually drunk quite a lot and she wasn't as happy as she should be. Petunia Dursley, as she was now known, seemed to make it a point to completely ignore Lily's existence. Her friends then took this as a cue to make fun of her. James just sat with Lily at the head table and tried to comfort her. Petunia had been forced to put Lily there but had not put James there so while everyone danced James sat in the seat that Lily's mother had been sitting in.

"Don't worry about it," James said. Lily sighed and looked at her sister. Both Vernon and Petunia looked incredibly rigid while they danced.

"I want to go back to Hogwarts," Lily said, "and I miss my wand," James smiled and took his out. He handed it to Lily and put her hand around it.

"Take it for a while then," He said, "at least until tomorrow, when you'll have a new wand and I'll buy you something nice,"

"James," Lily said with that look that was supposed to be stern but she couldn't manage it so well anymore. She took another drink from the glass of wine that was on the table.

"Ok, I won't buy you a thing. I am going to spoil Muffin though," James said. Lily laughed and kissed him, "Come on, lets go and dance." James took Lily's hand and took her to the dance floor. He didn't know this strange muggle music but it seemed alright to dance to. James put his arms around Lily, glanced at where various members of her family were then began dancing with her. Lily laughed as she noticed James continuously glancing at her parents or her grandmother.

"Don't worry about them," Lily said, "It's Petunia's day, they're not going to notice me."

"Still," James said.

"Oh, I love this song," Lily said as another song came on.

"What is it?"

"Abba! _If you change your mind, I'm the first in line! Baby I'm still free, take a chance on me_!" Lily said. She began singing along to it and held James' hands as she danced. James easily got into the music and couldn't help laughing as Lily threw all caution to the wind and danced how James had only seen her dance once before. James and Sirius had once caught Lily and Hiba dancing crazily in the Gryffindor common room once when everyone had gone to bed. It had been rather amusing and quite unlike Lily or Hiba. James pulled her closer and Lily looked up at him with a smile.

"You know every man in this room, except Vernon, is watching you?" James asked with a grin.

"Really?" Lily asked as she looked around. James knew he was right and he held onto Lily's hands with pride, "three of them are my cousins, they're making sure you don't do anything wrong," She said with a grin.

"Would I do that?" James asked.

"You may if I tell you that I think I'm in love with you," Lily said with a slight hiccup. James stared at her seriously for a moment. Lily scowled uncomfortably.

"Really?" James asked. Lily nodded, "You're not just saying it because, I think, you're drunk?"

"What! I'm not drunk!" Lily snapped. As if to prove James' point she stumbled slightly. James caught her and laughed lightly. Lily hit him then smiled.

"Ok, maybe I'm a little drunk but I can only tell you because I'm drunk," she said as she pushed herself up on her toes to kiss him.

"Lily, your parents," James said.

"It's alright," Lily said. Her lips were millimetres away from James'. He glanced at Lily's father then returned Lily's kiss.

Lily held onto James hand tightly as they walked down Diagon Alley. She hated coming here. There were always shadows here, even on the brightest of days, like today. The practically deserted shopping street had supposedly once been a bustling hive of activity but Lily found it hard to believe. James vaguely remembered it but that had been before You-Know-Who had taken over. They walked in silence as the few people who were there watched them carefully. Lily felt awfully conspicuous in her beige muggle coat and bright red hair. James had said she didn't need to wear Wizarding robes but now she was thinking that she should. She felt everyone's gaze on her and James. James had his arm around her protectively and held her close. A slight breeze made an abandoned newspaper fly down the street. Behind them were a series of loud cracks. Lily fought the urge to turn around and look but whoever it was was following them. James and Lily came to Ollivanders and they walked in.

"Come on," James said quietly. Lily walked into the shop and felt herself relaxing almost immediately. It was comforting being surrounded by so wands. There was a sound from the back of the shop and Mr. Ollivander came through.

"Ah, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter," He said. Lily scowled and looked at the old man.

"You remember me?" Lily asked. Ollivander nodded.

"Willow, 10 ¼ inches, swishy. I expect your best subject at Hogwarts is Charms?" He asked. Lily nodded. Ollivander smiled and looked at James.

"Mahogany, 11 inches," James grinned and nodded, "So what can I do for you?"

"Um, my wand broke," Lily said as she pulled out the pieces of her wand from her pocket, "I was hoping that you could possibly fix it for me," Lily asked hopefully as Ollivander took the pieces. He looked over it then gravely shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans, but I can't do that. The best I can do is to select you a new wand," Ollivander said. He set the broken wand down on a table then began rummaging through his thousands of wands. As he did the door opened and a gush of cold air filled the room. Lily and James turned to look and saw a group of five people come in. Lily didn't recognise them at first but James did.

"Bellatrix," He hissed. The woman who was obviously the leader of the group smiled.

"Ah, so the report was right. A Mudblood and a blood traitor," She said. The group spread out around the shop to stop any form of escape. James took out his wand and held it as he stepped in front of Lily. Lily fought the urge to grab a wand, any wand, off the shelves.

"I have orders to take you to the Dark Lord," She said.

"You will do no such thing, Mrs. Lestrange," Ollivander said from behind them. Everyone turned to look at the old man.

"Be quiet old man. You have no authority over the orders of the Dark Lord," Bellatrix said.

"Actually, the 'Dark Lord' has given me and my shop asylum," Ollivander said, "I didn't ask for it but he sees the importance of me staying open." Bellatrix hesitated. Lily looked from the Death Eaters to the old man.

"We'll be waiting outside," She muttered. The Death Eaters filed out of the shop but Lily and James could see them hanging around outside the shop in front of a boarded up shop opposite.

"I'm terribly sorry about that. Here, try this one, Miss Evans," Ollivander handed Lily a wand. Lily took it and cast a simply charm with it. It felt different to her old wand but it was more comfortable then James' wand.

"How is it?" James asked. Lily tried a more complex charm then transfigured the bouquet she'd conjured into a pigeon.

"Feels good," She said with a smile.

"Walnut, unicorn hair, slightly smaller then your last wand and a little less flexible. I thought I'd try it. It was that or this one, same properties as your last wand but made of Holly," He said.

"Could I try it?" Lily asked. Ollivander swapped the wands and Lily tried a different charm. It felt the same as the last one but Ollivander seemed to see something that she didn't and he grinned at her.

"That would be your wand," Ollivander said. Lily smiled at him and glanced out of the window as she pulled out a handful of coins. She paid for the wand and then looked at the Death Eaters outside. Why did no one try and capture them? Everyone knew Bellatrix Black, Lestrange Lily corrected herself, was a Death Eater. She was laughing with the others outside.

"Why don't you just apparate?" Ollivander asked from the back of the shop as he put the other wand away.

"Um, James can't apparate yet," Lily said.

"You could try apparating with him," Ollivander said.

"Um," Lily looked uncertain but nodded, "Thank you Mr. Ollivander,"

"My pleasure, Miss Evans." Lily took James' hand after picking up the fragments of her old wand and they apparated to Lily's house.

"Do you think Mr. Ollivander will get into trouble?" Lily asked.

"Nah, he'll be fine," James said, "Dad's said he's been through and seen worse. Dark Wizards tend to give him immunity because he sells wands. He won't be hurt." Lily somehow doubted it and began playing around with her new wand. As they made their way to the kitchen she conjured things, transfigured them and then made them vanish. By the time she was at the kitchen she felt as comfortable with this new wand as she had been with her old wand. She still felt a loss for her old wand but she was happy with this new one.

"How much did it cost?" her mother asked as they came into the kitchen

"Not much," Lily said, "Do you want the change?"

"What am I going to do with Wizard money?" She asked with a smile.

"Good point," Lily said. She sat down with James.

"When are you leaving James?" She asked as she put down a few cups of tea in front of them.

"Soon. Dad's going to come and pick me up because of what's been happening in the wizard world recently," James said. Lily saw her mum's eyebrows go up slightly.

"What's happened?"

"The Knight Bus has stopped running because of the number of attacks on it so he's coming to pick me up because I can't apparate yet," James said. Lily looked away as her mother looked at her.

"Lily, are you really sure it's still safe to be in the wizarding world?"

"Yes mother, I want to stay in it. I love it," Lily said. Her mother looked sceptical and turned to get some biscuits for them when an elderly wizard apparated in their kitchen.

"Sorry," He said when Lily's mother threw biscuits all over the kitchen in surprise.

"It's quite alright," She said. The elderly wizard flicked his wand and the biscuits returned to Lily's mother's hands.

"Dad!" James said happily when he saw the elderly wizard. The elderly wizard smiled and embraced his son. Lily scowled. She hadn't expected James' parents to be elderly. She thought they would be in their forties like her own parents. Obviously they weren't. Lily looked at her mum, who was pouring out another cup of tea.

"Lily, Mrs. Evans. This is my dad," James said, "Dad this is Lily and her mother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," He said to Lily's mum then he looked at Lily, "The infamous Lily Evans," He said as Lily shot a glance at James.

"What?" He asked.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter," Lily said as she stood up to shake his hand. Mr. Potter laughed and gave her a hug.

"Has my son been behaving himself?" Mr. Potter asked.

"He's been a perfect gentleman," Lily's mother said.

"That would be a first," Mr. Potter said with a knowing look at James. James grinned at him and looked at Lily.

"Lets go and get my things," He said.

"Alright," Lily said. She kept looking at Mr. Potter as they left, "You never said that your parents were old."

"You never asked," James said, "Mother's health is waning a bit but dad's all good." Lily nodded. They went to get his things in silence. Now that James was leaving Lily felt like part of her was leaving as well. She suddenly felt depressed and upset. James saw this and gave a kiss at the top of the stairs.

"We'll meet up before School starts again."

"I know."

"And when we're back at school I'll do whatever you want to cheer you up. We can go into Hogsmeade again," He said with a cheeky grin. Lily hit him gently.

"Shut up," she said. James laughed and kissed her again. This kiss lasted a long time, or it felt like it. Lily didn't want it to stop but they were soon interrupted by Mr. Potter clearing his throat at the bottom of the stairs. They broke the kiss but Lily didn't let go of James.

"You will see him soon Lily. School starts again next week," Her mother said. Lily sighed and kissed him on the cheek. James smiled and led the way down the stairs.

"Thank you for letting me stay Mrs. Evans," James said politely.

"It was a pleasure," She said. She put her arm around Lily as she joined them, "I'll hopefully see you at the Hogwarts Express,"

"Definitely!" James said with a grin.

"And don't forget to come and see us again," Mrs. Evans said.

"Yes Ma'am!" James said. He looked at Lily, who tried to smile but she couldn't, "I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yes, please. We're having a roast dinner tomorrow and Sirius has invited Hiba and her family over so the more the merrier," Mr. Potter said.

"I'm afraid we've got an engagement ourselves but Lily isn't doing anything, are you?" Lily shook her head.

"Fantastic, come by at five," Mr. Potter said, "James will owl our address later." After another round of farewells they left. Lily sighed as she sat back down in her chair in the kitchen. Her mother gave her a knowing look and gave her a slice of left over wedding cake.

"He's a nice boy," Lily's mother said.

"I think I'm in love with him," Lily admitted to her as she idly stirred her tea.

"I would be surprised if you weren't," Lily blushed slightly.

"Ow!" James muttered as he hit his head on the wall of the compartment. Lily laughed and pulled him back towards her.

"I'll kiss it better," She said as she kissed his head then kissed his lips.

"I don't deserve you," James said as she let his hands roam and explore.

"I know you don't," She said. She pulled him in for another kiss before the compartment door slid open and James' friends all piled in.

"Here you are!" Sirius said with a grin as James rushed to get his hands out from underneath Lily's shirt.

"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone what you've been up to," Remus said, "It's quite cute. We thought you were patrolling the train but Kingsley said he hadn't seen you guys in about two hours so we thought we'd come and find you," he explained with being asked. Lily looked at them rather annoyed and sat with her legs over James' lap. She was already in her uniform and James was enjoying that fact. The last week of the winter holiday had been one of the best weeks of his life. Lily got along so well with his parents and they'd even let her stay over for a few nights! James had a new respect for them as they helped him to fall even more in love with Lily. James put a hand on Lily's leg and waited as the Marauders settled down. Peter let go of Lily's cat, who had been nestled in his arms, and Muffin jumped up onto Lily's lap. Lily stroked the cat and looked at the others.

"A bit of warning would help," She said, "next time." James looked at her with a smile.

"Well we did knock on the door," Sirius said, "but you seemed too busy nursing James back to health," He grinned. Lily went slightly red and stared at her cat. A slightly awkward silence followed until Peter decided to break it.

"Can't wait to get back to school," He said, "Not because of lessons but because you know when we go exploring on the F-" Sirius nudged him silent. Lily looked up curiously at that.

"I know what Remus is," Lily said.

"I know but just in case someone over hears us," Sirius said. Lily scowled at him and sighed.

"Have any of you seen Mary?" She asked when she realised her friend was missing.

"Nope," Remus said as he got out a paper, "I thought she was spending Christmas at Hogwarts?"

"No, she came home," Lily said.

"Maybe she went back to school early, it's not unheard of," James said. Lily nodded but her mind wasn't at rest. To be fair though, she hadn't exactly looked very heard for Mary. The moment James appeared she had become distracted.

"Hm, sale on broomsticks," Remus said as he flicked through the paper. He held out the pages concerned and let James and Sirius fight over them. Once it had been snatched from his hand Remus continued to read the paper with Peter peering over his arm to read as well. Soon the trolley witch came and James insisted in buying a bit of everything. Lily watched as the boys seemed to stuff themselves but didn't eat anything herself. Something about Mary's absence was bugging her. Lily had only seen her the previous day and Mary hadn't said anything about going back to the school early.

"I'm going to go and look for her," Lily said.

"Alright," James said with his mouth stuffed. He leant up for a kiss but Lily took one look at his stuffed mouth and pushed him away with a playful smile. James looked at her mournfully but not even his girlfriend could keep his mind off the food for long. Lily sighed as she made her way through the train. A group of second year Hufflepuffs were playing with a normal muggle Frisbee, a third year Ravenclaw was having a hurdles race with a Gryffindor but Lily soon ended that. Soon she had searched the entire train and Mary wasn't to be seen anywhere. Lily scowled and turned to look at the other end of the train. As she came back to her carriage she heard a scream of anger. Her eyes widened and she turned around just in time to be hit by Sarah Parton, James' ex-girlfriend. Sarah's tackle sent them both flying to the floor and Lily put her arms over her head to avoid Sarah's nails. Lily had seen what those nails could do to a Hufflepuff and she was sure they could do the same to her.

"You bitch!" Sarah screamed as her nails dug into Lily's arm. Lily pushed her off and scrambled to her feet. She just had time to stand up when Sarah ran at her again.

"Ah sh-" Lily turned to run away from her. She didn't want to hit her friend with magic but she might not have a choice. She grabbed the side of the door to her compartment and just managed to get in but Sarah followed her in. The game of wizarding chess that Peter and Sirius were now playing was thrown everywhere as Sarah grabbed Lily's legs.

"You stole him!" Sarah said as she scratched at Lily. Lily hit her back and kicked her away. James grabbed Lily while Remus got Sarah and parted the two fighting girls. Sirius sat on a seat and egged them on.

"What made you think you could keep him?" Lily shouted back at Sarah's latest insult.

"Why I should-"

"Girls!" Remus said as he put himself between the girls. Sarah tried to get past but she soon gave up.

"Gryffindors are supposed to be honourable. You should have been put in Slytherin with Snape. I'm your friend!" Sarah said. Lily's blood began to boil but James forced her to sit down and Remus forced Saray out of the carriage then locked the door.

"Why did you stop it?" Peter asked mournfully.

"Yeah that was amaz-" Sirius stopped at mid sentence after Lily glared at him. Lily conjured a small hand mirror and began to inspect the damage while James and Remus interrogated her. Lily chose to ignore them and frowned at her reflection. Sarah had managed to get her face and there was a small cut on her cheek that bled slightly but it was already scabbing over. Her arms were covered in tiny nail shaped cuts and her shirt was torn slightly.

"That bitch," Lily said as she got out her want and healed herself, "I wasn't the one to break up with her, why did she take it out on me?" No one answered her question, wisely thinking that silence was better then answering that question. The boys started talking quietly amongst each other about broomsticks while Sirius and Peter gathered their chess set together.

"Why didn't you just use magic?" James asked once Lily had calmed down.

"She's my room mate," Lily said. She felt slightly better but not much better, "I just hope that McGonagall doesn't punish me for it," Lily said with a sigh. James put his arms around her and kissed Lily on the side of the head. Lily closed her eyes and fell into James' hug. Her thoughts fled her and she fell asleep.

James held his hand out for Lily as she got off the train and led her to the carriages that would take them back to the castle. The carriages each had an auror in them and they sat at the front facing backwards so that they could keep an eye on the school children. As James sat next to Lily he saw several girls whispering and pointing at James. A few girls gave Lily the finer behind her back but Lily didn't seem to bothered if she caught them.

"So when's the next trip into Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked as the carriage started down the track to Hogwarts.

"Not any time soon," Lily responded, "There's been a few attacks in Hogsmeade and I read in the paper that the school was very concerned about the safety of letting us go to-"

"You think we go with the school's permission?" Peter asked with a giggle, "Have you told her anything about us?" He asked James.

"Yeah, I have," James said. He was busy glancing around. He saw a few of his friends from other houses looking at him in disbelief and James felt his ego being boosted several miles high. He put his arm around Lily and gave her a quick kiss. Lily turned to smile at him and kissed him back quickly. James turned to look at the guys who had been staring at him and they all looked at him in shock. James grinned and put his arm around Lily and pulled her closer. He couldn't help it, he wanted to show Lily off to the school, he'd got the girl of his dreams and he was going to let everyone know.

"Do you want to come?" Sirius asked Lily, "We can meet Hiba there." James nodded vaguely in agreement and looked around to see who else was watching them. He saw Mo a few carriages behind them watching them carefully. James gave him a small wave with his free hand and turned to look at Lily.

"I don't know," Lily said uncertainly, "I don't think I can get off being in trouble again if Filch catches me."

"You won't get caught, I promise," Sirius said.

"I don't know," Lily said, "Besides, James won't be going anyway."

"What?" James asked, "What's this?"

"You promised you'd keep out of trouble this year so that we could convince Dumbledore to make you head boy, remember," Lily asked.

"Prongs keep out of trouble?" Remus asked as he laughed, "You must be kidding me!"

"Um, when was this?" James asked.

"Last night, you said you'd try and make head boy," Lily said. James frowned as he tried to remember the previous night. They had gone to the cinema then that meal in London and then it had been back to James' house.

"When we were in the restaurant!" Lily said, "Were you even listening to me?"

"Oh, Prongs is in trouble," Sirius said. James suddenly remembered.

"Oh yeah, sorry, you were wearing a very revealing top last night," James said almost shyly. Lily gave him a slightly annoyed look, "I'm sorry, next time I'll try and focus on you more, not you I mean, I mean what you're saying, not what you're wearing-" Lily's frown turned into a grin and she kissed him quickly.

"You're so cute when you worry," She laughed.

"So are you guys coming to Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked.

"Sorry guys, I have to do what the Lady orders," James said with a shrug. Sirius and Remus looked at him with a scowl and while Lily smiled proudly James gave them a look they understood perfectly.

"Well, I'll tell you mate, you'll be missing out," Remus said.

"It's for the best though," Lily said with a smile. James nodded and turned to look at the castle that had just appeared over the brow of the hill. He pulled Lily closer and held her tightly as they watched the castle get bigger.

"We're home!" Peter shouted as he bounced in his seat.

"Can you tell someone had a bad holiday?" Sirius asked in amusement.

"Well, not all of us can get away from home so easily as you do," Peter said. Remus chuckled and shook his head. James felt like everything was perfect for the first time in his life. His friends were laughing and joking, Lily was in his arms, every boy in the school was jealous of him and Hogwarts was right in front of them. It was a dream come true. All too quickly they came to the castle and James was forced to let go to Lily to get down from the carriage. He turned and lifted Lily off the carriage and let her down on the floor. Lily grinned and put her arms around his neck and kissed him while they waited for the others to get down.

"ALL STUDENTS TO GO TO THE GREAT HALL!" They heard McGonagall shouting.

"I love you," Lily said to him quietly so only he could hear. James felt his heart stop and his breath got caught in his throat.

"What?" James asked in shock.

"Well, I think I'm in love with you," Lily said, "I know we've only been dating for like a week but I have known you for a long time." She smiled weakly and waited for James to respond. James' heart now started beating at full pace and he couldn't hear anything except his own heart beat and breathing. James grinned and leant forwards to kiss her. Lily smiled as he kissed her lips and laughed slightly as he picked her up. They were disturbed by Sirius tapping on James' shoulder.

"What?" James asked. James turned around to see McGonagall standing behind them.

"Enough of that Potter and Evans," She said sternly, "Miss Evans, could you come with me please, I need to talk to you in my office now."

"But Professor-"

"Your new boyfriend can wait," McGonagall said, "Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, to the great hall. The headmaster wants to talk to the students!" James sighed and reluctantly let Lily go. He watched as McGonagall led her up the stairs where Sarah joined them. James felt like his stomach was about to fall to his feet. Lily was going to get into trouble for the fight on the train.

"Come on mate," Sirius said as he pulled James' arm. The four of them pushed their way through the door and found some good seats at the Gryffindor table nearest the teacher's table. They wanted to hear Dumbledore loud and clear, and maybe throw some dung bombs at professor Kettleburn in the process. They sat down and waited until all the students were in the hall. They saw the teachers filing in and standing around the hall and looking serious. James looked at Sirius with a curious expression and then waved at Hagrid. Hagrid hadn't noticed them, instead he wiped his eyes with one giant hand.

"Weird," Remus said as he looked over to smile at Hagrid. Dumbledore walked into the room and everyone went silent. James smiled at the headmaster but Dumbledore looked at him seriously. There was something wrong, not only because Dumbledore wasn't smiling back but because he had frown lines on his forehead.

"Students, teachers and ghosts," He started, "It is highly unfortunate that I bear such sad tidings at the beginning of the new school term. Over the duration of the Christmas holidays I am afraid to inform you all that no less then eight students were murdered by those who follow Voldemort. I have often warned you to be careful when outside of the school grounds but unfortunately you cannot always be so vigilante. I will not name those students that were killed but the houses that they are from will be notified. However, amongst these students was our much loved head girl Charlie Kingsle. All of you know that Charlie was from Slytherin and many of you may not wish to believe that she was murdered by Voldemort, many of you have been led to believe that he does not kill those that are in Slytherin but let this warn you otherwise. Voldemort does not care what house you are from or who you are, you must all be careful. As a result of this Hogsmeade trips for the rest of the year will be cancelled. Only final year prefects will be allowed into the village with teacher supervision. No student will be allowed out of their dormitories beyond five o'clock. Quidditch practices will be supervised by at least two teachers in addition to Madame Hooch. If a student wishes to use the library they must gain permission from their head of house. One final thing is that I regret to tell you that two of the murders were conducted by Hogwarts students who are now on their way to Azkaban. If any student is caught using any form of magic in the corridors they will be brought to me." The hall was silent. James' mouth had fallen open at the end of the speech. Eight students were murdered? Was that possible? How could that be? And by a fellow student? Who could be so cruel as to kill one of their classmates? James closed his mouth and looked at Sirius and Remus. When Remus met his gaze James watched him mouth Lily's name. James' heart stopped for just a moment as he realised that Mary might be one of those students. If Lily wasn't in trouble for fighting on the train then this was bound to be why she was told to see McGonagall. James looked down the table and saw not only Lily and Sarah missing but also Gabbie, Lily's other room mate. He also noticed a group of third year Gryffindor boys missing and realised that they must also be in McGonagall's office. James got up and with everyone watching he ran from the hall.

"James!" Sirius shouted as he jumped up and followed. James didn't look back. He ran straight up to McGonagall's office and skid to a stop. He hesitated before knocking on the door.

"Come in," McGonagall called. James went in and had a look around the room.

"Where's Lily?" when he noticed it was empty.

"She has returned to her dormitory," McGonagall said. James nodded and ran from the office. For once McGonagall didn't shout at him as he did so. He nearly ran into Sirius but dodged just in time. The Fat Lady was crying when James came to the portrait hole and swung open.

"Lily!" James shouted, "Lily! Where are you?!" He went to the girl's dormitory.

"She went to your room," said a third year Gryffindor as he shuffled past from a chair by the fire to the stairs to the boys dorm. James pushed past him and ran up the stairs. His heart was thumping as he crashed through his door. He stopped when he saw Lily on his bed hugging her legs. She looked up when James entered the room. Her eyes were red and slightly swollen and her tights were damp with her tears.

"Lily," James said as he went to hold her. Lily's body seemed to give up when he hugged her and she started sobbing harder. James just held her tightly and let her cry. Sirius, Remus and Peter all came into the room quietly and looked at James curiously. Eventually Lily stopped sobbing and her breathing became regular. James shifted her in his arms slightly and looked at her face.

"Is she alright?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"She's sleeping," James said as he lay Lily down in his bed. He pulled his covers over her and kissed her forehead.

"I wonder who did it?" Remus asked.

"Who cares who did it? It doesn't change the fact that she's dead!" Peter said violently. James, Sirius and Remus all looked at him. Peter had tears in his eyes and his fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles were going white.

"Wormtail?" Remus asked as he put his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Leave me alone," Peter said as he shrugged Remus away and went to his bed. He pulled his hangings closed so violently that one of them was partly torn off the railings. James watched silently in shock then looked at his friends.

"What's gotten into him?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I have no idea," Remus said, "He wasn't close to Mary was he?" James indicated for them to leave the dorm. They went out into the stairway and closed the door.

"Can one of you go and check on the other girls?" James asked.

"Leave that to me," Sirius said with a nod. James nodded along with him but he was starting to realise what had happened. One of his classmates had been killed, as had the head girl. Why would Voldemort kill a Slytherin? A gloom started to settle over James as he thought about the loss of Mary. She hadn't been exceptional but she was a good friend. She was also one of Lily's friends and one of Lily's life supports at Hogwarts. Mary had always suffered at Hogwarts, being teased by Slytherins but it had never gotten to her. James felt Remus gripping his shoulder.

"Go and be with Lily, we'll sort everything out with the other girls," Remus said.


End file.
